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IS KING 




Forew^ord 

N WRITING this little book, it is not with inten- 
tion to dictate, it is to educate ; it is not to destroy, 
it is to protect. Neither is it any part of my pur- 
pose to criticize the opinion of others. What I 
have to offer is drawn from the store-house of 
experience, and from that I will try and 
explain to the best of my belief and knowledge things as I 
know them, and, you can think and say of this little book 
what you will. You may not accept all of what I say, but 
it will pay you to let some of it stick in your mind and often 
you will find yourself acting upon its advice. In its pages 
vou will find statements of truth and scientific facts. And 
when you reaHze the benefit that its teaching has been to 
you, you will feel that you have not fully paid for it, so you 
can do this for me in order to pay for it in full : Bring it 
to the attention of some one else, who will probably be glad 
to know of it and may need it. It is my desire that all who 
can read the American language will take advantage of its 
oft'ering. I also hope I have done no injustice to either my- 
self or to those to whom it is presented. It is at least writ- 
ten in a friendly spirit and with good intention, and there is 
no danger that you cannot understand every word of it, as 
I only know the language in the plainest way. It is written 
with the object to prevent lame horses, divorces and wars. 
In it is explained the cause of the European War, and how 
some speedy horses may be shod to go faster. 

LOUIS PETERSEN. 



T^HIS work has been written 
in hope of meeting a long- 
felt want. M}^ life is such that 
I wish for no praise; I only hope 
and believe I have done m}" duty. 

Louis Petersen. 
Scientific Horseshoer 
Santa Ana, Cal., 1915. 




Statement of Truth and Scientific Facts 

NCE upon a time I was asked, What do you 
think of life, anyway? Life, I said, is an art, 
while married life in some sense of the word is 
like horse-shoeing, it is a science. It differs only 
that each is in a class by itself. In married Hfe 
it is a science to keep love in circulation. In 
horse-shoeing, it is a science to keep the blood of a short 
hoof in circulation. Of course it is not science to kick a 
man when he is down, that is pure hate; r --rhrr is it science 
to put on a calk shoe on a horse's contracted foot, that is 
cruel. But when we know how and have a cliance to rise 
after we are down, and, when we know also and have the 
opportunity how to restore normal conditions to a diseased 
foot. I think we know then a good deal about the cause of 
either of it. And when we know the cause of a trouble 
there is then no uncertainty of a remedy. It may be asked 
what is the cause of preventing the blood from free circula- 
tion in a horse's foot? One cause is contraction, and con- 
traction is the mother of most foot evils, such as corns, 
quarter cracks, side bones, coffin joint, lameness, crowding 
the frog and destroying its functions, stumbling, over 
reaching, scalping, cross firing, etc., and so on. 

And contraction can be caused by improper paring or 
trimming of the feet or an uneven bearing on the foot caus- 
ed by an ill-fitted shoe, this causes fever to the foot which 
interferes with the free circulation of the blood. It causes 
the horny wall to shrink and gives a feeling to a horse like 
a tight boot that pinches our own feet. In speaking of con- 
traction and improper trimming : Contraction can be 
brought on by leaving the heels too high. A horse when in 
motion lands at the heels on his front feet first, and, any ex- 
tra hoof beyond the laminated structures cannot carry the 
same weight as the normal foot, without injuring the foot. 



Furthermore, the center of the foot has its fixed place, 
that is, the center of the foot is in the same place all of the 
time. But the heels, like the toes, grow at a forward angle. 
The toe, however, grows away from the center, while the 
heels grow nearer to the center. In this unbalanced condi- 
tion the heels are forced to carry extra weight while they 
are in a weaker condition. 

Let us reason together and see in what way the heels 
become weaker as we let them grow higher. Suppose we 
take a stick of whale bone three feet long, place it in an up- 
right position, then put a weight on top of it and see how 
much it bends; then take a stick of the same strength four 
feet long, put the same amount of weight on it, we will find 
that it bends or warps much more. And the same rule ap- 
plies to horses' high heels. 

You know it is a general belief that high heels take the 
strain off the back tendons, but that is only a theory and 
not so in fact, for as soon as the horse is in motion his feet 
are at a forward angle, when extended and landing on the 
ground with the high heels it would cause the foot to rock 
back, because they have grown too close to the center of the 
foot. Now, this back tendon which you intend to relieve 
with high heels, is inserted on the bottom of the foot or cof- 
fin bone. This foot bone is in the same position as the foot 
is when the limb is extended. When the foot land? on the 
ground the toe is slightly elevated, because the hii^h heels 
reach the ground before the foot is in position for other 
parts of the foot can help to carry weight, so the cause of 
the strain of the back tendon is because the high heels grew 
too near the center of the foot. A horse on a trot carries 
two-thirds of his weight on one front foot at a time, so 
when the limb is fully extended the weight of the horse 
would force the foot to rock back. It may be said if the 
high heels are too close to the center to cause the foot to 
rock back, why not extend the branches of the shoe to 
where the foot ought to be with normal heels? Ha, that 



would be some scheme, but those extended branches would 
be like a lever prying on the points of the heels at each time 
the feet land when in motion. And the heels of the foot 
would soon crumble away and aside from breaking- down 
the horse would be very apt to catch his shoes with his hind 
feet, because his stride in front is short where the heels are 
high. 

And it is the same tendon that flexes the foot when 
leaving the ground so the high heels are causing the flexer 
tendon to perform a double duty, carrying weight when 
landing and flexing the foot when starting. The high heeis 
also cause a strain on the extensor tendon, even while. i he 
horse is at rest if he stands in a natural position as the ex- 
tensor tendon is inserted at the apex of the same foot bone. 
The flexer and the extensor tendons are the two main ten- 
dons that control the swing of the foot in a forward and 
backward direction, therefore it is necessary to pare a foot 
to an angle so that the tension of these two tendons is equal- 
ly divided, that is one point in balancing the action of a 
horse. Some horse trainers and caretakers, too, are gen- 
erally very particular about a fraction of an ounce of weight 
in a shoe, which really has nothing to do with balancing a 
horse's gait. This shoeing horses twice in a day in order to 
balance their gaits never appealed to me as sound judgment 
and anyway some horses are like some men, they haven't 
got a real balanced head. In such cases all the experiment- 
ing with shoes amounts to nothing. There are other 
things more important and more valuable to under- 
stand and to look after. The main part as to shoe- 
ing in balancing the swing of horses' feet is to 
know first a healthy foot from a diseased one, a strong 
foot from a weak one, conformation and formation of limb 
and feet, etc. If all is well, then see to it that the foot is 
pared to the right angle to suit the joints, tendons, and liga- 
ments above. The weight of a shoe should be judged by 
the strength and action of the foot ; that is to say, if a foot 



is strong and without defects, a light shoe is the best to 
adopt. If the foot is of the deHcate order, then a couple of 
more ounces of weight in the web of the shoe will be found 
beneficial. So a half an ounce or even an ounce, one way 
or the other in an otherwise well-balanced horse has noth- 
ing to do with his speed or his balance. 

Well, I have drifted away from the subject of high 
heels. As said before, high heels cause a strain on the ex- 
tensor or front tendon, and for a horse to avoid straining 
this tendon he will place his feet out of a perpendicular line 
backward and in that way relieving the strain of the front 
tendon. But the trouble of such position is, he adds extra 
weight to his front extremities, because he has to relieve his 
hind limbs from carrying their natural amount of weight 
in order to balance himself or to keep himself from falling 
backwards, so when you see a horse standing with his front 
feet too far under himself it indicates that he is too high at 
the heels. The horse in traveling tries to avoid jarring of 
the heels, which makes his stride short and choppy and in 
that way the front feet cannot keep time with the hind ones. 
High heels can be the cause of a trotting horse being mix- 
gaited and in this way of going his stride in front is irregu- 
lar because he tries to keep time with his hind feet, then 
again he feels the sting of the heels when landing which he 
tries to avoid. 

In such cases the joints in or above the foot would be 
pounded to pieces because the weight of the horse would 
fall direct on the bones of the joints. It is generally known 
and agreed, the horse with straight hock joints is subject to 
bone spavin, because there is no spring to such joints as 
there is to the joints that are more slanting or oblique. This 
same rule applies to horses' front limbs, below the knee, 
when he has to travel with high heels, and that can be the 
cause of ring bone. 

It is always best to pare the heels like the rest of the 
foot, to where they belong. Well, you know now, in part, 



what a damage it can be to a horse by leaving the heels too 
high and once in a while we find feet with low heels where 
the bars are broken down and the walls of the heels are 
warped and bent over, and often it makes a horse go tender 
and as the heels look low, a blacksmith will take a shoe and 
turn up heel calks to make up for the low appearance of the 
heel. This is like adding fuel to fire. It is not building up, 
it is destroying; and after heel calks are turned on to shoes 
and applied to feet in such conditions, it is a sure case of 
lameness. It doesn't make any difference how low such 
heels are, to prepare them for a shoe properly is to remove 
all the parts that are warped and broken down. Then build 
it up again with strips of leather, between foot and shoe, 
secure the leather with rivets to the branches of the heels 
and adjust the shoe in such a way that the heels of the foot 
can carry its share of the horse's weight. Or, if the frog 
is in proper condition, use a bar shoe and thereby give the 
heels a rest. I know you say all this takes a lot of time, 
but that is just where we blunder so often. We never even 
take time to think. We must take time to do things right. 
It may look that we could spring the shoes away from such 
heels, but that also is a bad practice, because the heels of the 
foot would settle down to the shoe and thereby break down 
the quarters. That would be like going from bad to worse, 
a little extra time in taking pains is worth more than the 
whole job of shoeing. Shoeing is not worth anything if it 
isn't done right. The deformity of such broken heels are 
often caused by the use of the ordinary three-calk shoe and 
is generally found among the heavier horses. Such shoes 
produce extra stress or pressure on the weakest part of the 
foot. Then we come across another kind of deformed heel 
that may cause trouble to a horse's foot. The heels that 
have caved in, between the coronary band and the lower 
border of the walls. The bars or braces are generally firm 
and strong and thereby the lower border of the wall of the 
heels are kept in place, but fever at that part of the foot 



which interferes with the free circulation of the blood has 
caused the horny wall at the heels to collapse. The horse 
may not go lame, but it should be attended to at once. Re- 
duce or lower the heels and weaken the wall on the outside 
with a rasp from the coronary band down. Use a bar shoe 
with leather pads, pack the feet with tar and oakum. It is 
also good to paint the coronary band at the heels with iodine 
or some kind of a blister. The cause of the deformity of 
such heels might have been caused by leaving the heels too 
high, or the three-calk shoe may bring about such abnormal 
conditions. Calks on front shoes are not good, neither are 
they necessary. If, however, you are compelled to use 
calks, then use the good enough shoe, that is the best calk 
shoe to date, because the center of the foot gets its share of 
carrying weight and thereby takes the strain from the weak- 
er parts of the foot. In order to keep horses' feet in health 
and strength, as far as shoeing goes is uniformity of pres- 
sure. Shoes that produce bearing equally divided all over 
the bottom of the foot and that should be the shoes for the 
future use. For winter shoeing, to prevent slipping, 1 
would recommend the Never Slip Shoe, with the use of an 
extra calk between heel and toe in shoes number three and 
larger, in the center of the shoe, and I don't know of a bet- 
ter wearing calk and shoe than the Red Tip Never Slip. 
Now, do not misunderstand me, as it may sound like adver- 
tising, and that it is a money scheme. Neither of those 
shoe manufacturies know that I am writing this ; they will 
not know unless they buy a book. I am saying this because 
their shoes deserve it, as they are an improvement over 
other calk shoes, and, why not give as well as take? I 
will try and proceed in explaining to pare feet to where they 
should be. A foot should be considered a triangle and in 
normal condition the distance from the center of the foot 
to the points of the heels should be the same as to the point 
of the front of the toe. It may be asked. Where do we find 
the center of the foot? The center of the foot may be 

10 



found in the following way : Suppose the foot is consid- 
ered ready for the shoe, then take a rather fine cord, start 
at the cleft of the frog, with one end of the string, measure 
around the lower border of the foot to the starting point, 
then double the string in the middle. Start again at the 
cleft, around to where the string reaches the toe and make 
a mark at that point. Then measure the upper half of the 
foot, start from the same cleft, in the same way as you 
found the center of the toe, then from the upper mark to 
the lower mark draw a line from mark to mark in front of 
the hoof. Then draw a line through the center of the foot 
along the center of the frog to the mark of the point of the 
toe, then take the string, again start at the cleft along the 
lower border of the hoof to the center of the toe. Now dou- 
ble your string, start at the cleft, make a mark where the 
end of the double string reaches at the side of the foot, then 
find the middle of the other half in the same way. Then 
draw a line across the bottom of the foot, — and where those 
lines cross, that is the center of the foot. Where conditions 
are normal, with the foot properly leveled and shoes to suit, 
the swing of the foot when in motion should be like the 
swing of the pendulum of a clock. With a normal foot the 
sole next to the wall helps to carry weight. This part of 
the sole should not be removed as it adds in supporting the 
wall; but when the foot is neglected, shoes are left on too 
long, the horny wall, like the soles, keeps growing, and the 
shoe on the foot goes with the growing wall forward. But 
the sole sheds or peels off in flakes leaving the over-growing 
wall to carry the weight alone and must bear the brunt of 
danger. 

Speaking of danger, when buying a horse, one should 
look at the feet first. A horse when at rest should stand 
perpendicular. If he is restless, pointing his feet forward, 
or stands with both front feet in that position, it indicates 
he is out of balance, and he may be unsound, although not 
lame, but chances are he will be. The best and safest foot 

11 



on a horse is the round, flatish foot. As a rule, in such a 
foot, the frog is large and spongy. Where there is a well- 
developed frog, the horny wall is also softer and that horse 
maintains his balance better. Then the horse with the high 
cup foot, in the last-named foot the frog is generally small 
hard and feeble, as the frog is the heart of the foot, in shape 
and in reality a foot without a frog is like a home without 
a mother, or a church without the Holy Spirit, so the forms 
of horses' feet are Hke men's character, they can give the 
ease or the disease. 

As I said at the beginning, married life is like horse- 
shoeing. It is a science. And sometimes I think some men 
are like some horses' feet, that is, they are not so awful bad. 
but they are simply not very good. A person's thoughts 
and actions change for good or for bad like horses' feet in 
form and size, with age, circumstances and surroundings. 
Horses' feet are, or will be, just as we treat them. It may 
now be asked, how should horses' feet be treated, in the per- 
formance for shoeing? To begin with, in removing old 
shoes, the clinchers should be cut ; then if the nail heads pro- 
ject, it is best to pull each nail out by itself or a shoe pull oft' 
be used and remove the shoe with care. 

After that, a knife may be used to remove the loose 
parts of the sole, other parts of the sole like the bars and 
frog, should not be cut. Then a hoof parer is applied and 
the wall reduced to the white line or on a level with the sole, 
the foot is then leveled off with a rasp to secure a bearing- 
service for the shoe to rest on. A shoe is then selected and 
fitted and should only be warm enough in fitting to allow 
changing of the shoes, if necessary. Burning of the foot is 
not necessary, neither is it good. No clips or calks should 
be used on front shoes. CHps may be necessary, and no 
harm will result from them, if fitted right, but' generally 
where clips are not necessary it is best to not use them. It 
is a good practice to wet the shoe before nailing it. When 
placed on the foot it will show the unevenness of bearing, if 

12 



any. In nailing a shoe, start the heel, nails first. It is 
more apt to leave the shoe where you int'^nded it to be. It 
often saves this pounding with the hammer on the outside of 
the wall, that is another practice that's neither good or nec- 
essary. The simple job' of clinching is often done in a 
thoughtless way, first the clinch gets a tap with the hammer 
to turn it a little, and when it is in good position to lay, then 
with two or three hard blows, the floorman will drive it into 
the hoof. Directly under the clinch is the nail itself, under- 
neath the nail is the sensitive lamina, and, in most cases, 
dangerously close to the sensitive part, two or three hard 
blows is liable to force the nail blade between the exterior 
wall to the sensitive structure. 

Ignorance or thoughtlessness in clinching can be the 
cause of separating the lining between the sensitive and in- 
sensitive parts of the hoof. Let me repeat, this pounding 
on the outer wall is neither good nor necessary. In finish- 
ing, file no other part of the wall, only the clinches. 

The shoe should fit the foot flush, with the toe like the 
branches of the heels beveled. Shoeing done as described 
above is not against the good of the foot. It is said, and of- 
ten repeated that horseshoeing is a necessary evil, but I 
know it is not. It is a science, and, anyway, there are no 
such things as necessary evils. It is not the question, shoes 
or no shoes ; but, rather, the kind of shoes and the manner 
of its application to the foot. Nature has provided the 
horse with the hoof with intention for protection. 

But we are somewhat slow in learning how to properly 
protect them and, therefore, it is still the belief among some 
people that horseshoers are doing an evil business, and it is 
because horseshoeing is not improving like other arts and 
science. It is a good deal like this, some horseshoers crip- 
ple horses by the use of clips, others can use cHps to benefit 
the feet and make them go sound thereby, and so it is with 
the whole horseshoeing operation. If it is done right it is 
not a necessary evil, it is similar to that, as a man thinks in 

13 



his own heart, so is he. Therefore, our mind should be like 
a shield and weapon to use against any w^ong thoughts and 
action. Our dispositions are irregular and if we don't con- 
trol them in a way that is best for all concerned, we should 
be reminded of our mistakes by those interested and by 
those who understand us. In most all cases it is better to 
be kind and coax, rather than to use force, and men should 
be that way to horses. 

It may be asked, in what way is it a science to contain 
love in married life ? Take, for instance, a newly married 
couple, and here is to you, young ladies : Supposing your 
husband enjoys a smoke after a meal, and, supposing you 
don't like to have him smoke in the house, now is your time 
to think and study. Instead of teling him that if he wants 
to smoke he has got to go out in the wood-shed or some 
near-by place, that you will not stand -for any smoking in 
the house, here is where you make a mistake, and then, in 
the way you say it, that has something to do with it. You 
knew his habits before you married him. If he did not 
want to give up the enjoyment of a pipe or some other kind 
of a smoke to please you before marriage, and that you 
think that you can convert him after marriage into ways of 
your own desire, you had better break your engagement, for 
it will just cancel one more mistake. 

Now, let me advise you, if you want a per- 
fect man, to make a long story short, don't mar- 
ry. But if you marry you must understand all men are 
temporarily weak at one time in life or another, and so are 
you. And so, if you don't want a husband that smokes, 
don't marry one. 

Now, to men I will say this : Almost any kind of a 
woman is good enough for the average man because women 
who are willing to brave themselves to replace the dying 
race are heroines and are the world's only future hope. 
Men should listen and consider a girl or woman's reasonable 
plea that she makes with good intentions. 

14 



Now, to you, young lady, if you are married and can- 
not get your husband to stop smoking in the ways that you 
have been trying it, then let him hug the pipe, for you, too, 
must count on anxiety after marriage, which is sure to 
come. It may be for money, or it may be for the health of 
your husband, or something else ; and, while you are worry- 
ing about one thing or another, your mind is like a horse 
with inflamed feet, restless, and is not altogether agreeable, 
and now I am going to try and advise you how you may get 
this man of yours to stop smoking. A good way is to assist 
your husband at the time he enjoys a smoke; get him his 
favorite cigar and a match, sit down by his side and in an 
affectionate way explain to him that you wish he would not 
smoke, in that way your chances are good to win. Of 
course, you may be too serious-minded, too self-centered, 
and don't like the idea of pleading, but, you see, in life we 
often have to do things that we dislike. Life is like walk- 
ing up hill, but married life at times is like mountain climb- 
ing. The roadway that leads to success for the joys of 
future life is overgrowing with bushes and brambles and we 
must expect to get a few scratches before we can reach good 
and smooth footing, but keep on trying and make the best of 
it. The results will be that you needn't care, because it 
keeps love in circulation and love brings happiness. What 
happy people we ought to be, to live in sunny homes and 
where we are permitted to rest under the blue skies among 
bright flowers and sweet smelling roses, songs of the mock- 
ing bird can be heard in the stillness of "the night. Of 
course, the sun cannot be shining all of the time and birds 
cannot be singing always, even the blossoms cannot bloom 
without rest ; but there is hope and there is light, the future 
is bright for those that are trying to do the best. Discharge 
hate and selfishness, that will smooth the road to success and 
happiness; and, now, young lady, when your better half 
realizes your kind interest in him, he will yield and your 
wish will be granted because he has more sentiment than 

15 



you have, and from your courage comes his 
Women have more grit than men, therefore a woman 
should never discourage a man, but should display her 
pleasure at his excellence at trying to succeed. It adds to 
keep love in circulation. You see love is a delicate thing, 
but it is valuable, it holds life together. Life without love 
is only like being in existence, so it pays to study your hus- 
band's mental wants and needs, you can make your own 
way of supplying them actually indispensable to him and 
while you arc helping him you are helping yourself also. It 
is the making of a foundation for future happiness. You 
can control and guide a man's bad habits if you study his 
disposition and that your own thoughts are for good. Like 
a scientific horseshoer's controlling the form and health of a 
horse's foot, if it hasn't been through neglect forgotten. 

A growing foot is like a bad habit, they are growing 
evils. As to the horse's foot, the foot is provided by nature 
to take care of itself, if it is kept at normal size and level. 
The foot is supplied with moisture and growing material 
from the blood that circulates through it, but when a foot 
becomes abnormal this over-growing quantity of hoof is also 
nourished from the same food or blood, where there is real- 
ly only enough of it to feed or take care of the normal foot. 
And, consequently, the whole foot suffers. I wish this to 
be understood just as it is, and will try and make it clear. 
Supposing you had food 'for twelve hogs and then suppose 
you add four more to them, feeding them from the same 
food, you know those twelve hogs could not get that which 
was intended for them because you are feeding four extra 
hogs from the same quantity of food. You see where there 
are too many hogs for a certain amount of food it makes 
the swill rather thin, or, in other words, there isn't enough 
to go around, and none of them can do well. This same 
rule applies to horses' feet, when an over-quantity of hoof 
takes place the normal foot suffers in strength and health. 
It is necessary, therefore, that horses should be shod every 

16 



four weeks to keep the foot in health and strength and to 
not overtax the structures above. Any extra length of the 
horny wall weakens the horses' capacity for work. It may 
be asked, how can this extra length of hoof weaken the 
horse's natural strength. I will try and explain this as I 
have done in the case with high heels. It is a universally 
known principal of mechanical philosophy that we can either 
increase or diminish the lifting capacity of a lever by either 
lengthening or shortening that portion of it between the 
fulcrum and the object to be lifted. Let us illustrate : If a 
lever is placed upon a fulcrum four inches from the lifting 
end, and is capable of raising 1200 pounds, and then remove 
it to five inches from such end it can only raise 900 pounds, 
with an equal degree of strain. This same rule applies to 
the motion and management of horses' feet. If a normal 
foot of a horse is four inches in length, measuring from the 
hair to the point of the toe, then if it has grown to five 
inches the horse has then lost one-fifth of its real strength. 
By the extra inch that has grown away from the center of 
the foot, because at each forward step he has to climb over 
this extra inch of toe and this causes a strain on the back or 
the flexer tendon at each time the foot is flex or lifted to 
move forward; in other words, it is the same as driving a 
horse up hill. You can now understand how a long or deep 
toe weakens a horse's capacity for work. Dismiss your 
idea that a horse pulling loads must have a toe calk on his 
front shoes to do so, or that a trotting horse must have a 
grab on the outer web on his front shoes to get a toe-hold. 
A grab causes a horse to tire and can be the cause of losing 
the race. It is at the last end of the mile, just about where 
the money is paid, when he commences to fall back. It is 
similar to that as winding up a clock, the last turn works the 
hardest. A horse with only equal speed, with the toes of 
his shoes slightly rolled on the home stretch passes the 
horse that wears a grab. Put those calks or grabs on the 
hind shoes, that is where they do more good, if any. In 

17 



speaking of long toes, and that it weakens a horse's capacity 
for work, horseshoers know it is nothing uncommon to re- 
move an inch or more of surplus wall from horses' feet in 
preparing them for shoes, so you see what the result can be 
when horses' feet are neglected, the whole horse is abused. 
It is not only a punishment to a horse to labor in such un- 
natural conditions, but we are shortening his existence for 
usefulness, because it causes extra wear and tear on the 
joints and tendons that set the feet in motion and control 
the swing of them, and what you are trying to save in 
horseshoeing you are losing more than the price of it in 
horse flesh, where he is performing the same amount of 
work. Get your horses shod every four weeks, so he can 
use his natural strength to full advantage. The horse will 
last longer, as there will be no unnatural strain on any part 
of the foot or parts above it. You see the foot is an unfin- 
ished part of the horse's anatomy. It changes and grows 
irregularly, the shoers should understand how^ to prepare the 
foot and construct shoes so that the motion is smooth and 
without friction. Then there is no danger to the foot or the 
part above it. You may say, this kind of reading would 
have been very useful thirty or forty years ago ; I know you 
are thinking of the automobile ; but you need information 
of this kind worse now than it was needed forty years ago. 
New discovery in horseshoeing is what you want and need. 
People used to argue and said that nature always did her 
work well and that horses, like men and women, were born 
without shoes. This is very true, had each been permitted 
to remain in the condition and surroundings in which they 
were born, then neither of them would ever have needed 
shoes. But we know it is different, we would not be satis- 
fied today to use candles for lights that our parents got 
along with fifty years ago. Horseshoeing, as humble as the 
avocation may be, it behooves us to be consistent and to re- 
joice that we may be numbered among the growing throng, 
progressing in the onward march of thoughts, — admitting 

18 



that the auto is used some in place of horses, and admitting 
the auto, hke the horse, is not only good, but necessary, — 
but to think that the auto is crowding the horse out, that is 
only like an idle dream, because the auto is too expensive 
and is much the cause of the cost of high living. You can 
take it like this : A five-year-old horse is much younger 
than a five-year-old auto. What a horse is lacking 
in speed, he outclasses the auto for endurance. Be- 
fore the auto was known forty years ago, there 
were but four million horses in this coun- 
try, and they were valued at an average of $52.00 a head. 
In 1 9 14 the number of horses registered 20,000,000, at an 
average value of $110.00 a head. Manufacturers and 
wholesale concerns have experimented with auto-trucks, but 
they are now replacing them with horses because the horse is 
more reliable, more economical, better for endurance, and 
they are man's good companions. The advent of the auto 
will never detract from the glory which the horse rightfully 
deserves. If you would only allow one-fourth of the ex- 
pense on a team that you are forced to spend on an auto, 
it would make your team look most beautiful, you can be 
sure of this, the horse is here and is here to stay, as the 
horse outlasts three machines. We may admit in the last 
few years, the auto has been in full sway and has checked 
the shoeing business some, but don't you know also it is go- 
ing to an extreme and when we go to an extreme in any- 
thing, something is going to go wrong. The time is still 
remembered when the Puritans in their religious way they 
dared not kiss their wife on Sunday, or his neighbor's wife 
on any other day of a week. But now we are rushing to an 
extreme of the reverse, so the law must take a hand and 
stop love-making in public. And so it is with the auto, 
everybody is trying to rush to the front, and the law should 
take a hand in if to safeguard the pubHc, a change is bound 
to come. In the next ten years there will be many horses 
taking the place of autos and horseshoers should buckle in 



19 



and prepare themselves to keep horse on their feet so they 
can always perform their duty. It will add to increase the 
horse and encourage those who are using them. 

In speaking about horseshoeing, that it is old and of 
little interest, don't overlook the change and improvements 
of our highways for horses to travel over. The improve- 
ments of the roads for the horse seems like a blessing that 
he will be permitted to travel over roads where the footing 
is level and firm, because it is not the hard roads that is the 
cause of so much lameness, as much as unskillful and 
awkward shoeing or neglect. If from neglect the horse tra- 
veling on firm footing will soon remind the owner of his 
carelessness, but just as the footing has been made artificial 
and firm, so must shoeing be changed and improved accord- 
ingly and when you understand the meaning in this little 
book you will then admit that it is not only good, but neces- 
sary. Understand me, I am not writing and offering this 
book for sale just to get your money, I have been writing 
along these lines for the last twenty years, always without 
money, but now, having put this story into a book form, I 
must make expenses and live as I work along. If you don't 
understand it from the first reading, read it again. I know 
one page of it is worth the price you pay for it, whatever 
part interests you, and when you understand it, you will ad- 
mit it, and then advise your neighbor to get one like it, and 
that is the way to pay for this little book in full. What I 
am writing is true, and it will always be so. The money 
you pay for it you will soon forget, but its teachings will 
benefit you forever because horses' feet will always be as 
men make them, and, therefore, we must understand and 
know how to treat them. Now, I do not wish to make you 
tired reading on one subject, so I am going to let you read 
about something else. 

As I said, married life is a science. Men and women 
should study each other, how they can best please each other 
and then act accordingly. If married people would try and 

20 



understand each other like a good lawyer understands the 
science of law and makes use of it, then married Hfe could 
exist without friction, but it is through stubbornness or 
some other foolishness that trouble begins. If we could all 
be more human, most of our dead locks of hate would dis- 
appear. We should not seek to antagonize, but we should 
try to help each other, as sometimes it doesn't take very 
much to cause a person to an excited feeling and destroy 
that sweet emotion. You see we all have minds that conceal 
thoughts of both good and evil, but we should not always 
see a sliver in the eyes of others and not notice the timber 
in our own. Remember no one ever got very popular by 
knocking, so let us not burden ourselves unduly with what 
others may say regarding us. Rather let us turn a deaf 
ear to all utterance of unjust criticism. If we know that we 
are free from the habit of criticizing ourselves, we can then 
be sure there is no weapon formed that can prosper against 
us, if we want to be at peace with ourselves and the world. 
We must not only refrain from doing and thinking evil, but 
we must forsake it. You see there is so much good in the 
worst of us and so much bad in the best of us, therefore it 
behooves us, that none of us should speak ill of any of us. 
We all look at outsiders differently, when we are inside, 
which should not concern us. There are more valuable and 
more important things in life that we should pay attention 
to. Speaking of married life, as a science, it is most cer- 
tainly a science to keep love in circulation. Of course, any 
man or woman that have thorough love both of them wants 
to see the other happy, but the case often is when men grow 
old love for them grows cold. It is surprising that pots full 
of ink are splashed through the daily papers in telling of 
how to avoid divorces, preachers, doctors and others have 
expressed themselves, but they all differ in their conclusions. 
Some say how old we ought to be before marriage, how 
long we ought to know each other and that a couple shall 
know each other's reputation, breeding, etc., before mar- 

21 



riage. But such imaginations are withottt foun- 
dation. We may take our place among the best today and 
have a record for uprightness in every derail, then comes 
a temptation, a desire for something to gratify us, and we 
yield. Then the community that knows us is shocked, but 
age, reputation, etc., is not responsible for it. Life is a 
thing of mind and spirit. They are real. They are the 
things that will buy the world at last as its foundation is not 
built on sand. If we would all be princes of peace, there 
would be no war among men or nations. Strikes are gener- 
ally made for to obtain better conditions, but rioting is 
usually caused by men lacking education and others loose 
their heads through excitement. If nations as a whole had 
more true religion then there would be no wars amongst 
them. Nations are not at war because they hate each other, 
but jealousy, greed and revenge is the cause of war, to 
check prosperity of its enemy, and that is just why the Eu- 
ropean war is going on today, and it is among individuals 
like it is among nations, even among horseshoers, where 
selfishness and revenge prevails, it causes ill feeling and 
makes conditions unfavorable. You know those abu- 
sive remarks you made about your neighbor as a black mail- 
ing scheme. You know you lied, and you know a lie travels 
like a fast express, while the truth goes by slow freight and 
is generally ditched at the first stop, and as a reward, what 
satisfaction or pleasure have you out of it? 

And you, that letter you wrote for to get revenge, try- 
ing to disturb the peace between parents and their children, 
and you too lied, and what good did it do you? You have 
only made for yourself a low record that will always be re- 
membered by at least those concerned. How can you an- 
swer for such cunning? Just notice the affection of ani- 
mals, how exciting it is when you take calf away from a 
mother cow. Of course the animal's memory is not so last- 
ing as parent's to their children, but your lies will be dis- 
covered and when convictiion comes vou that do those 



22 



things ought to be driven into the hottest corner of hell, 
where you must appear in person. You cannot hire a sub- 
stitute, who would take the punishment for you. 

And oh, when this European War is ended, those that 
were the cause of it, now wish they were out of it. The 
enemies of Germany they know, now, that their army and 
navy are not capable of earning for them the glory that 
they had plotted out. Their proud cries that we are bound 
to win have changed to that we may win. An English lady 
in a letter to the Times, says : "The people of England are 
treated like little children, shielding carefully from them 
any breath of trouble, trying to make us think it is all gold 
that shines and all the battles fought are victorious for the 
Allies. They keep the public in ignorance as to what is go- 
ing on in the battle fields, and when or where their rela- 
tives are killed, and so forth, and do you wonder why I'm 
writing about the European War. Let me tell you the 
reason why, it is the intensity of my feeings that compels 
me to say something in behalf of the Fatherland, just as I 
am writing about the horse, and that his right may be re- 
spected, and to let you know who was the cause of this war 
and who started it. Russia started the war while England 
was the cause of it. We here in America are led to believe 
that the Kaiser was the cause of the war and in behalf of 
the Kaiser and Fatherland, I want to say we put the blame 
on the wrong man. You may now read the Official Text 
of telegrams that Kaiser Wilhelm sent to the Czar of Rus- 
sia, the King of England and to the Republic of France, 
before war was started : 

It should convince you that the Kaiser earnestly strove 
for peace until the last, when he was forced to go into this 
war for the defense of the German Empire, because Russia 
was marching into Germany from the East. The French 
were mobilizing and going through Belgium to strike at 
Germany at the Rhein, and the Belgiums joined the French 
for the same purpose. Then England saw Germany was be- 

.23 



tween two fires, and declared war on Germany the 4th day 
of August, 1914: It was that day when England pawned 
her soul to the Devil, and she cannot redeem it until 
she has payed for all the war expense and suffering 
caused by the war. The higher up ones of Eng- 
land, like the Russians, must bend or break. Eng- 
land is now paying the price for driving the 
Boers from their homes in South Africa, for greed, to 
please a few higher up ones in 1900. What do you think 
of nations that say, to the common people : "Stand up, you 
men, to be shot down and, don't ask the reason why. We 
higher up ones see fit to have you die: In Germany it is 
different. All are soldiers and, in proof that all take part, 
the Kaisr and his sons are fighting at the fronts. We 
in America have read the reports from London, England, 
that the German Crown Prince has been killed. But he has 
risen again and like other higher up ones is still at the front, 
fighting again for his country. And here are the 

**Kaiser's Early Offer to Promote Peace" 

''Emperor Wllhelm to Czar Nicholas, July 28, 1914, 
10:45 a. m. 

'Tt is with the greatest apprehension I learn of the im- 
pression caused by the Empire of Austria Hungary's pro- 
ceeding against Serbia. The unscrupulous propaganda has 
been perpetrated for years and in Serbia has led to the re- 
volting crime to which Archduke Francis Ferdinand has 
fallen a victim. 

'The very spirit which has prompted the Serbian to 
murder their own king and his consort is still ruling that 
country. Thou will undoubtedly coincide with me, that it is 
for the common interest of both of us, thou, as well as my- 
self, and also any other sovereigns, that we insist that all 
those that are morally responsible for this dastardly murder 
should suffer their merited punishment. 

"On the other hand, I perceive well enough the diffi- 

24 



culty it would be for thee and thy Government to oppose the 
current of public opinion. Remembering the cordual friend- 
ship uniting us for a considerable time with a strong bond, 
I shall exert my whole influence upon Austria-Hungary to 
induce her to reach an open and satisfactory agreement with 
Russia. 

"I confidently hope thou wilt support me in my en- 
deavors to eliminate all difficulties which may yet arise. 

"Thy very sincere and devoted friend and cousin. 

"WILHELM." 

''Kaiser's Warning on Mobilization" 

"Emperor Wilhelm to Czar Nicholas, July 29, i p. m. 

"My Ambassador has been directed to indicate to thy 
Government the dangers and grave consequences of a mobi- 
lization; I told thee the same in my last telegram, Austria- 
Hungary has only mobilized against Serbia, at that only 
part of her army. 

"If Russia should mobilize against Austria-Hun- 
gary, as is actually the case, according to communications 
by thyself and thy Government, then my role as a mediator 
which thou hast conferred upon me in so friendly a manner, 
and which I have accepted upon thy express request, will 
be jeopardized, if not rendered impossible. 

"The whole burden of decision is now resting upon 
thy shoulders; thou have to bear the responsibility for war 
or peace. 

"WILHELM." 

''Serbian Provinces Untrust>vorthy" 

"Emperor Wihelm to Czar Nicholas, July 30, 6 '.30 p. m. 

"I received thy telegram and share thy wishes for 
maintenance of the peace. However, as stated in my first 
telegram I cannot view the act of Austria-Hungary as out- 
rageous war. 

25 



"Austria-Hungary knows from experience that Ser- 
bian promises, if only made on paper, are altogether un- 
trustworthy. In my opinion the act of Austria-Hungary 
is to be viewed as endeavoring to obtain full guarantee of 
Serbia that her promises be actually fulfilled. 

"This view of mine is confirmed by the declaration of 
the Austrian Cabinet to the effect that Austria-Hungary 
does not intend to make any territorial conquests at the ex- 
pense of Serbia. Hence I remain as spectator at the end of 
Austria-Serbian war, without drawing Europe into the most 
terrible war in history. 

*T believe a direct arrangement between thy Govern- 
ment and \'ienna to be possible and desirable, an agree- 
ment which my government is bent to promote with all its 
powers, as I have already wired thee. Of course, military 
measures on the part of Russia which may be regarded by 
Austria-Hungary as threatening would hasten a disaster 
that we both desire to avoid. They also woud undermine 
my position as mediator which I gladly have accepted upon 
thy appeal for my friendship and aid. 

"WILHELM." 

"Prince Henry of Prussia, the Brother of Kaiser 
Wilhelm to King George of England, July 30, 1914. 

'Am here since yesterday. Have communicated to 
Wilhelm everything you told me so kindly at Buckingham 
Palace last Sunday, and he gratefully received your mes- 
sage. 

"WILHEL^I, GREATLY WORRIED, IS DOING 
HIS UTMOST IN WORKING FOR THE MAINTEN- 
ANCE OF PEACE, IN RESPONSE TO NICHOLAS' 
REQUEST. 

"He is in permanent telegraphic communication with 
Nicholas, who today confirms the report of having ordered 
military measurer, tantamount to mobilization, which mea- 
sures have been taken already five days ago. 

26 



''Moreover, we are informed of France making mili- 
tary preparations, whereas we have not directed any mea- 
sures, but may be forced to do so at any moment, if our 
neighbors should keep on. The upshot would be a Euro- 
pean war. 

"1 may add Germany and England should mutually 
support one another now more than ever to prevent a ter- 
rible calamity which otherwise would seem unavoidable. 

"Believe me, Wilhelm is most sincere in his efforts at 
preserving peace. However, we may ultimately be forced 
by the military preparations of his two neighbors to follow 
their example in order to assure the safety of his own coun- 
try which otherwise would remain defenseless. 

'T have informed Wilhelm of my telegram to you and 
I hope you will receive my communications in the same 
friendly spirit which has prompted them. 

"HEINRICH." 

"Kaiser Tells of Russian Mobilization" 

"Emperor Wilhelm to King George. July 30, 191 4. 

"Many thanks for your friendly communication. Your 
suggestions are coinciding with my ideas and with the in- 
formation which I received tonight from Vienna and which 
I have passed on to London. 

"This moment I have received the news from my 
Chancellor that he has just been informed of Nicholas 
having ordered tonight the mobilization of the entire army 
and navy. He not even has waited for results of the medi- 
ation I work upon and has left me altogether without news. 

'T am departing for Berlin to guard the safety of my 
Eastern Frontiers, where already strong Russian forces 
have been stationed. 

"WILHELM." 

Does this sound to you that the Kaiser is a WAR 
LORD? Dismiss that belief, and give him the benefit of 

27 



what he stands for. He is a King of Peace, by talent he 
is a soldier, and, by nature a nobleman — that explains the 
success of the German army. And furthermore England 
should have remembered that Russia and France attempted 
to induce Germany to join them in a combination war 
against Great Britain and destroy her in 1901 while she was 
engaged in the Boer war. Let it be remembered it was to 
the credit of the Kaiser that he rejected these proposals, and 
Great Britain was saved in consequence. This is some 
more proof what the Kaiser stands for. 

We in America say if Germany did not figure on war, 
what does she keep such large armies for? Well, Germany 
has not got as large an army as France. The population of 
Germany is 70,000,000, and has an army of 5,000,000 ; 
France's population is 40,000,000, and has an army of 
4,000,000. So Germany, out of 30,000,000 more popula- 
tion than France, has 1,000,000 soldiers, — while France, 
out of 40,000,000, has 4,000,000 soldiers. And Russia has 
a larger army than either Germany or France. And while 
we are talking about the large army of Germany, we say 
very little about England's big fleets and that she spent 
$225,000,000 in 1913 to enlarge her navy. Neither do we 
say anything about that Russia added 600,000 to her army 
in 1913. And as far back as 1912 the military party of the 
French Republic openly inaugurated aggressive prepara- 
tions, including the projects for bringing the colored troops 
of the French colonies in to line against Germany, and, for 
the increase in standing army by a bill known as a Three 
Years' Service Law ; all this was done by the French 
Parliament in 1913. What did all this mean? They were 
preparing to crush Germany! While Germany was won- 
dering and watching about these that are now her enemies 
she simply kept pace with them. Why, England has more 
battleships and cruisers than Germany, Russia and France 
put together, and now during this war, England has im- 
ported all the breeds that she can get a hold of, to swell 

28 



the size of her army in equal to that of other nations, so 
Germany has to defend herself and is fighting four to one. 
These figures are from facts. And we say it is that big- 
army of Germany that keeps the country poor. 

To satisfy you of more real facts, I herewith give 
figures of the national debt. They are as follows : Eng- 
land, $3,695,854,000, London; France, $6,283,675,000, 
Paris; Russia, $4,553,488,000, St. Petersburg; Germany, 
$1,177,418,000, Berlin. 

Does this look like Germany is worse off than her 
enemies ; I get other information from Germany, as I have a 
sister living there who has five sons in the army. She 
has one daughter married, and her husband is with the 
army also. One of her boys was killed February 17th, 
and another was wounded in the month of April. He wrote 
his father and mother, all the dead and wounded belonging 
to his regiment was caused by American powder and ex- 
plosives ; and she asked me to tell her why the Americans 
are helping England and her allies. And, she said, you 
Americans know that we are surrounded, fighting four to 
one in self-defense; and says this good sister of mine, we 
have five sons in the army ; if we lose them all, I know it is 
hard to sacrifice, but the English with the help of the 
Americans cannot starve or kill all of Germany. We have 
confidence in the Kaiser, our leader, and who we know did 
not want war. Ludwig, believe me, the Kaiser, with six 
sons, are fighting at the front, and we will all help to carry 
this war to the very end. Ludwig, you say your Govern- 
ment is not making or sending ammunition to England, 
and then you say your President at the beginning of this 
war asked the American people to set aside one day to pray 
for peace. 

Aber wir denken, Der Lieber Gott hat eug nicht gehort. 
It means : But we think the Dear Lord did not hear you 
people. 

It reminds us here, it is like with the Russian, the 

29 



Priest gives the soldiers all a blessing before they go to 
the battlefield, but after the battle and when they have a 
chance, they act more like beasts than human. And we 
think it is so with some of you Americans, praying for 
peace, and, at the same time doing all you can to help 
England and her Allies to prolong the war. You ought to 
know you cannot fool God. We here are wondering who is 
running your country. We know this much, Americans 
are helping the English and her Allies to prolong the war. 
Shiploads of food sent from your country for the civilians 
of Germany, England seizes all of this and your country 
does not make England release any of it, and, in that way, 
helps England to starve us. But Germany cannot be starved 
or beaten. God is our trusty shield and weapon. Those 
clippings you sent me from your newspapers is nothing but 
a falsehood, and they are dirty lies. We think it is a dis- 
grace for your government and your press to let such rot 
be printed. The English tell us about the German atroci- 
ties, such as the destruction of Louvain. But they hide 
carefully the cause of it. They tell these things because they 
don't get any chance to destroy any part of Germany. 
They complain about the Zeppelins and the activity of the 
submarines, because England has not got them. So Eng- 
land asks the U. S. A. to tell Germany to stop this subma- 
rine warfare and, the U. S. A. sends protest after protest to 
Germany that she must stop this submarine warfare, and, it 
is this pro-English, as the German people take it across 
the pond, that has caused a dislike to the Americans. 

And Sister Maria is right. Americans are helping 
England to prolong the war. We are reading a lot of lies 
about the cause of the war. That Germany did 
not start the war. Read this, for instance, from Sir Alfred 
Milner, a British Governor in Parliament, in part he says : 
"This consummation can only be prevented by beating Ger- 
many on land, and, unless it can be prevented, England will 
in fact be defeated, FOR WE HAVE FAILED TO 

30 



ACHIEVE ANY ONE OF THE OBJECTS FOR 
WHICH WE STARTED THIS WAR." 

At a later date, the London Times publishes an article 
by Lord Charles Beresford. In his speech he says: "We 
began the war, with two great assets, our fleet and our 
wealth," and he adds, "We shall soon be bankrupt if this 
goes on." Does this not tell us in plain English that Eng- 
land had planned what to do when she declared war on 
Germany, after she had lured others into it? And further, 
says sister Maria, we know the American papers are mis- 
leading your people, like the enemies of Germany are miss- 
leading their own people, but even with all the ill will in 
the papers against Germany, we know truth will win, and 
all the unjust criticism shall unconcern us. The German 
people look at it like this, during the Spanish-American war 
when a shipload started to sail with the ammunition for 
Spain, the American Ambassador, Mr. White, informed the 
German Government, and the Kaiser at once ordered that 
ship to return and that no ammunition should be sold to 
Spain against the Americans. And so the people in Ger- 
many don't understand why America should help England 
and her Allies to prolong the war. I am telling this, as I 
believe you want to know the truth. 

And, says Sister Maria, "W^omen here cheerfully take 
the place of men in planting the seeds for the coming har- 
vest, as now there is no suffering here for want of food and 
otherwise. Bread in certain quantities is dealt out to us by 
the government. The food is healthy ; we all like it and get 
plenty of it. We on the ranches have to use candles for 
light, as the Government has taken over the petroleum, but 
while we are using candles, we are not breaking any lamp 
chimneys, so it isn't so bad after all." 

Just think of what Sister Maria says to me : If we 
must lose all our sons, England cannot crush the Father- 
land. The civilians of Germany realize that it is better to 
lose part of Germany's brave men, than to let the enemies, 

31 



such as they are, run through the Fatherland and murder 
the defenseless people in their homes. That's the way with 
the Germans ; first their Fatherland, then their family. Can 
you beat it? 

The cry from the people in this country is : Germany 
did wrong by going into Belgium, but the people don't say 
anything about the French already having gone into Bel- 
gium where they had joined the Belgium army with the in- 
tention to strike at Germany from the Belgium frontier. 

France and Belgium violated the neutrality law long 
before Germany set foot on Belgium soil. When Germany 
asked the Belgiums to let her go through that country 
she was answered with guns. So Germany was forced to 
fight in self-defense. Let me illustrate Germany's position : 
If you were living on a ranch surrounded by four other 
ranches and supposing they had plotted together to get you 
out of that place, and that you knew they were coming, and 
as they were closing in on you, you would surely strike at 
the one most dangerous and not wait until they could all 
poke you with the point of a bayonet, that would be a cow- 
ardly act and it would make it extremely uncomfortable for 
those that depended on you. Such was the condition of 
Germany at the beginning of the war, surrounded by four 
enemies, and had Germany not known when and where to 
strike, she would have been at the mercy of her enemies, 
and would have been wiped off the map. It was only 
through Germany's quick thought and action that she pre- 
vented the enemies in entering far into Germany. We 
are always reminded of the poor Belgians and for the Ger- 
mans to take their country, etc. Let me tell you, it was the 
Belgiums' own fault. In proof of it, before the Germans 
came to Brussels, the capital of Belgium, Germany offered 
to make peace with them and pay for all the damage done, 
but Belgium did not listen to Germany's warning, but de- 
pended on the promise of England. Why should not Eng- 
land restore that country for them and in all take care of 

32 



them and no one should see any wrong for Germany to keep 
it, and, any other part of territory that the Germans had to 
battle for in order to keep the enemy out of the Fatherland. 

It was England that told the Belgiums to resist, and the 
Belgiums depended on the English promise for a big reward. 
Like England ordered the Japanese to declare war on Ger- 
many, and drive the German settlers from their homes in 
Asia where the German Government had spent $40,000,000 
for railroads, schools and churches. The Germans had no 
army there to speak of ; the Japanese took advantage of this 
and drove the German settlers from their homes. All this 
was done to please England. 

We must all remember, and always, Germany was not the 
cause of the war. If Germany had been figuring on making 
this war, she would at least had all her ships home. Ger- 
many was taken by surprise, and history could not describe 
the brutality that would have befallen the German civilians 
from the enemies' soldiers. We all know what the Russian 
Cossacks did to the German women and children. It is too 
shameful here to print. The English imported for 
their armies as fighters the Indians or Hindus. 
They are said to be the pride of the English army. 
They call them the fire-eaters, because they can send them to 
the front like a flock of sheep to a slaughter house. They 
are so daring, so some people look at it ! They fight cannon 
balls with their knives. With them is another trible, the 
wilds from Egypt, the blacks from Africa, and brown men 
wherever England can buy them. ALL FOR THE SAKE 
TO CRUSH GERMANY. And even the English them- 
selves are no exception to the Russian Cossacks. Deceiving 
and misleading is their game. Do you know that an Eng- 
lish ofiicer of a patrol boat had the commander and men 
killed of a German submarine when the submarine was 
sinking and the men had surrendered ? But the commander 
of the British war vessel said, take no prisoners, kill them 
all. This British warship was painted with the Stars and 

33 



Stripes, and was flying the American flag. This is sworn 
to in the United States Courts by the foreman and his man 
from a steamer that was loaded with mules for Liverpool 
that was at the very spot where the helpless Germans were 
killed after they had surrendered. That the officer of the 
British warship ordered the captain of the transport steamer 
to caution his men and to not say anything about the inci- 
dent when they arrived at Liverpool. Of course results 
for using or abusing the American flag by the English has 
not as yet developed, and I don't know whether the Ameri- 
can Government cares to do anything about it. But even 
with all the help that England gets or takes, as it looks now, 
Germany has her enemy beat. This may sound rather 
sweeping, but I know what I am writing about. This is 
May 17, 191 5, and I'll just take a chance in adding, all the 
soldiers that are left will be home by Christmas, or before, 
if the x\mericans stop sending ammunition and money to 
England and her AUies. What say you folks to that? 

I must tell you of last winter. I had an argument with 
an Irishman and in our quarrel about the war, he said, well, 
just as soon as this war is over, I am going to London. 
England. Well, said I, if you want to go to London, Eng- 
land, you have to go before the war is over, because after 
the war it will be London, Germany. Then, said my Irish 
friend to me, don't you know that this John Redmond, the 
Irish leader, is getting all the Irish to enlist; he tells his 
countrymen they must enlist, because he, Redmond, has 
promised a priest in Belgium that he will send an Irish army 
over there to drive the Germans out of that country. Then, 
I said, you boasting about this man, Redmond, a man that 
is trying to serve two masters, advising his countrymen they 
must stand up to be shot down to please a few higher up 
ones. He, Redmond, should be ashamed of himself, deceiv- 
ing his friends to please Lord Kitchener and a few high- 
er up ones in England. Then, said my Irish friend, here 
in this morning's paper you see Lord Kitchener has sent 

34 



28o,ooo Russians into France that the Germans don't know 
anything about. I then said, Lord Kitchener must be Irish, 
too. And, said my Irish friend, and to be sure he is. Well, 
said I, don't you know the Irish cannot oeat the Dutch. 
But give Redmond credit for his cunning. And that big 
army of Russians that Lord Kitchener sent, as you believe, 
will be blown away like the snows from the winds. It will 
be a good work out for the Germans before breakfast. And, 
I added, you ought to go to Ireland and advise the Irish 
to not take any stock in Redmond. He is only working for 
English money, more than for the interest of the Irish peo- 
ple. After that, my Irish friend and I had no more quarrels 
about the war. 

Think, think, the lion as master, the bear the biggest 
power of all the world, and the gallistion rooster that was 
waiting for a chance of revenge and others that were lured 
into the war, depended on the promise of the master lion 
for big reward, aiding in the plot to crush the most civilized 
and God-fearing people on earth. A people that are build- 
ing schools and churches instead of prisons. And even 
Americans are aiding the plotters of this war for big gains 
of this evil best known as cash where every dollar that is 
gained in this is covered with the blood of Germany's brave 
men and with tears from the widows. You with that blood 
money, cries from children will always ring in your ears. 
The sin, the shame, the weapons that you are manufacturing 
will always be remembered. You may boast to your children 
and your children can say to their children that it was you 
that enriched the estate of yours by making and sending 
the war instruments to Europe to kill off the Germans. 
You are as cruel and wicked as the hired Camorra of Italy. 
But all the gains of gold will melt for you like snow in 
the sun, sooner or later your conscience will begin to trouble 
vou. You will worry yourself into your grave. Don't for- 
get the riches that you gain by such action will be a burden 
to you and in some way or other you will loose it all and 

35 



while on earth wherever you go the civiHzecl world will 
sneer at you. Relax your neck and hang your head in 
shame. When this war is over with your factories will 
rest, but you will have neither rest nor peace, and when you 
die you will appear at the gates of hell, but your record is 
the Devil will send you back to earth again to bring your 
own coal for your own burning, because the Devil knows 
you are too mean to enjoy peace on earth. 

Just a few words more about the European war, and 
then I'm done. You have read the Kaiser's message which 
should convince us that Germany did not want war ; but 
that the war was plotted and started by the enemies of 
Germany, for greed and revenge, who have no heart nor 
conscience, and in their lust for wealth and power they 
will be told to kneel from the message delivered by the 
eagle who will tell them. It must make peace on earth and 
give good will to all men, and this message will also say, 
Thou must refrain from criticising the action of others 
and we must not repeat idle gossip and set in judgment of 
our neighbor. If we are doing those things, let us stop 
them, just refuse to think or utter an unkind thought. If 
we would all be thinking right and good there would then 
be no disturbance of the peace and no divorces. 

It is similar to that in preparing horses' feet, and select- 
ing proper shoes for them; if ye know how, there would 
then be no interference with the free circulation of the blood 
that flows through them. If horseshoers would be com- 
pelled to understand the science of shoeing there would be 
no more lame horses, barring accidents. It may be asked, 
is all lameness coming to horses in their feet? Nay, a 
horse may be lame above the foot, but seventy-five out of 
every hundred cases of lameness is caused by an unbalanced 
or diseased foot. When the foot becomes unbalanced it dis- 
arranges the structures above and while a horse is trying 
in relieving certain structure from strain or pain, he is over- 
taxing other parts because his weight has to be carried. 

36 



Then it may be asked, what is the cause of so many lame 
horses? The most prolific cause is unskillful! shoeing. 
Men are often lured into shops through fake advertising 
where blacksmiths offer to shoe at a bargain. 

Let me say this to the horse loving public, you ought 
to realize that your horseshoer with whom you have been 
dealing and has given you satisfaction and is in business to 
stay and is honest with you because you are paying him a 
fair price. He is not just shoeing your horses for what 
profit he gets out of it, he tries to please you, to satisfy 
you, he wants to keep you as a customer and you can well 
afford to pay him some extra for mistakes he doesn't make. 
Look out for those smiths that advertise to shoe horses for 
less than cost, or at figures much below the price of true 
horse shoers. Such horseshoers belong in a class with men 
that sell fake articles. Let me repeat, look out for him. 
But I know some people don't see anything but this, known 
as the Almighty Dollar, and, I would much rather be their 
pocket book than their horse, because they take better 
care of it. They are too stingy to say the Lord's Prayer 
for fear the Lord would have forgotten to give them credit 
when they come to settle up. They are so sharp and so 
cute for the favor you wish to do them, they rather refuse 
in hope that they get the difference in cash. Let me re- 
peat, as to horse shoeing, the best is the cheapest, and don't 
forget that. There is another ailment that is a drawback to 
horse shoeing, that is horse owners often have some cruel 
notions and dictate to the shoer how he wants his horse 
shod. If these same men would clean their horse's feet 
every evening after a day's work instead of engineering the 
shoeing, that would be of some benefit for both men and 
horse. We should only try and be what we are able to be, 
and don't pretend to be something that we are not. En- 
gineering horseshoeing without knowing what it means to 
the foot or the part above is an everlasting damage to the 
horse, for that same man could probably not describe the 

37 



location of the coffin bone or what it is there for. I often 
wonder why this United States has not got laws like 
they have in Germany, where the horseshoer has to pass an 
examination before he can operate a shoeing business, and 
when he is successful he is then registered and pays a li- 
cense for running it. In Germany a Master Horseshoer 
is highly respected for the merits of his labor. Here, Aber 
Lieber Fater, but dear Lord, a tramp can run out of a corn 
field and start a horseshoeing business. His plans are gen- 
erally made to just stay through the winter. He makes 
the prices as low as he is himself. After a short stay, 
when the grass gets green, he gets the wander lust in his 
head. The forge and fire is getting too hot for him, of 
which he knows very little. When he meets another trav- 
eler, they two lay around together under some convenient 
shade tree, perhaps reading old musty books and this 
would be horse shoer tells his companion how he was fool- 
ing and bleeding the people during the winter ; he tells 
him how he got in with the barn men or men that have 
horses in charge, for just a small bribe, or he goes out and 
begs to gel c horse to shoe. I don't know which is the 
worse, begging or bribing. Of course, begging is more on 
the cheap order, but he who begs has no pride, only a selfish 
desire. Just now, while I am writing about this would-be 
horseshoer, I'm going to tell of an incident that happened 
here in Santa Ana. I am shoeing the horses for the Union 
Oil Company. Most of the shops know what I am getting 
for shoeing. They also know that I am getting just what 
I charge, $2.50 a horse. And one solicitor in this town 
went and told the company that he could save them money 
and would shoe their horses for $1.50, but the thoughtful 
manager politely told him that the company's business was 
running smooth and was making both ends meet, and that 
their horses were all going good, but if they should need 
his advice regarding how to cut down expense and save 
money, they would come and ask him, and, added the 

38 



manager, it is the company's experience that the best is 
the cheapest, and we mean to let Uve as well as live, but 
said this solicitor, Louis don't work ort Saturday afternoon. 
I will shoe your horses any old time that you want them 
shod. Yes, said the manager, Louis told us that when we 
turned the horses over to him, that he was not working on 
Saturday afternoons, and we always try and arrange ac- 
cordingly, but when we get in a pinch he is always ready 
and glad to help us, Saturday or no Saturday. And I am 
still shoeing the Union Oil horses, in spite of their knowl- 
edge of cheap shoeing. But this is not the only country 
where horses' feet are ironed off just for the sake of doing 
it, and to get some other shop on the standstill. 

As it happened in December, 1914, a stranger came in 
my shop as I was working at the forge, he was looking on ; 
I then asked him if he was working at this trade. He 
answered in the negative, but, said he, I have lots of horses 
shod in the East. I then asked him. What part of the East 
are you from? He said, I am from Michigan. Just then 
a coal dealer brought me a supply of coal. As it came in 
sacks, he asked, What do you have to pay for coal here? 
I told him $22.00 a ton. It surprised him, and, said he, 
In Detroit they get coal delivered in the shops for $6.00, 
or less. Yes, said I, but in this country they get $1.25 
for shoeing a horse. Well, said he, that is what we have 
to pay in Michigan. Then, said I, is this in the cities or the 
country towns? Well, said he, right in Detroit. I really 
thought in the East where all horseshoers had an oppor- 
tunity to belong to the M. H. N. P. A., that they were all 
getting no less than $2.00, as I had seen this many times 
stated in the Journal and to me it always looked fair and an 
encouragment for an organization, but I have come to think 
it is like having some good laws that are not en- 
forced. That's the way it often is with things. It isn't 
all gold that shines. 

As before, speaking of the Union Oil Company's 

39 



horses, let me say this for the company, and why they never 
have any lame horses : They get them shod every four 
weeks, they always allow me a half a day to shoe a team, 
they are satisfied whatever kind of shoes I put on them. If 
this would be taken as an example by other concerns, it 
would benefit the horse and the man that owns him, as it 
extends his usefulness. Experience teaches us the indi- 
vidual or concerns that look after the welfare of the horse, 
in seeing to it that his right is respected, are always safe 
to deal with. We can judge a man of what he really 
is on the inside by the looks of his horse on the outside. 

But the horseshoer who is only in business as a schemer 
for the horse owner, he is dangerous to deal with, to the 
craft he is an unfair competition. He is a disgrace to 
the art and science of shoeing. He is an enemy of honesty 
and resentful of lawless cunning. You may say, this kind of 
talk don't enlighten us any about the science of shoeing 
but the point is if fake horseshoers can be prevented from 
doing business, it will add to the respect and science of 
shoeing and a good way to stop them is to not patronize 
them. Every state in the Union ought to make a law that 
horseshoers that are carrying on a horseshoeing business 
must be registered and pass an examination for the pro- 
tection of the horse and the man that owns him. 

I hope you understand it better now, why there are 
so many lame horses, so if bad shoeing is the cause of 
horses going lame, then good shoeing must be the remedy. 
The farmer who does not understand and does not care 
to prepare the soil properly for the seed he sows, cannot 
expect to reap a harvert. So, if poor farming is the cause 
of a failure of a crop, on the. same soil, good farming is the 
remedy. What do 3^ou think of a human doctor, if you were 
ill, and was told by your family physician that you needed 
an operation, and that the charge would be $100.00, — then 
if a strange doctor comes along and tells you he can save 
you $10.00 on that job, you very likely refuse and take no 

40 



chances, because of your own feelings. But for fifty cents, 
in your careless way you rob your horse of proper foot 
wear to which he is entitled for comfort and endurance, 
and down in your own heart you really know the best is 
the cheapest, which your horse deserves because he earns 
for you part of your living, or you find pleasure in riding 
behind him. I know I have said this quite often, that the 
law should protect the horse against ignorance that is among 
men that are shoeing them, but like other things, as long 
as it is the truth, truth don't grow old. Repeating it does 
not make it old, and the law says, how can you horse- 
shoers expect to be protected as long as you don't demand, 
you cannot obtain and, the law is right. You know, too, we 
cannot even catch a street car if we don't try. But a few 
individuals cannot expect to have any influence in legis- 
lation. If horseshoers would all be organized and then 
prepare a demand, legislation will respect and protect this 
important branch of industry, so it is up to the horse- 
shoers. If horseshoers would be like a united nation the 
result would be better conditions, better shoeing and pro- 
tection. In speaking of the necessity of being organized, 
what would a large army amount to if it was not organized 
and had no leader? An organized army of much smaller 
size would crumble it and scatter it to all four corners 
of the globe. So be organized and be like one, and the 
future success for the horse and the men that shoes him 
is bright indeed. Let such organization be for purely edu- 
cational purposes. If we will try and educate ourselves 
first, so that we can educate others, then results for horse- 
shoeing will be such that we needn't care. 

Speaking of education to improve horseshoeing: But 
how shall we educate horseshoers? When we have no 
teachers. Well, we must associate together, we must 
learn from each other. A splendid way is as the Iowa State 
Fair management adopted in 1914. Of course it had to be 
Iowa to start the ball rolling, and they can be proud of it, 

41 



I am glad, because it is my native state and a state where 
a horse will never be forgotten. I think it was called a 
Horseshoers' Contest. Such contests should be held in 
every state and county fair. And judge by the more ad- 
vanced horseshoers, such contests should not only be for 
the purpose of trying to see how fast and good one can shoe 
a horse, but lame horses of all kinds should be brought to 
such places so that the best remedy can be adopted. Such 
lessons would be spread in all directions of the county and 
a judge or judges may then assist the competitors and 
argue the points, until it is understood and agreed, and 
then test it and see what is really best. You see you got 
to exercise your brain by making it work at new ideas 
and you can only do that by getting other men's thoughts. 
Such lessons would be a credit to the country and a benefit 
to the horse. Even if all horseshoers do not take part, 
there would be many bystanders listening and watching 
and they would be well repaid for the time spent. To the 
Fair Associations, please consider this and put it in your 
next program. The expense of it is the best money that 
you can pay out for fair expenses. Listen, if it was your 
choice to send your children to school, or keep them out, 
we know your answer, and in five years from now you 
would be wondering how neglectful and careless you would 
have been if you had not started this valuable plan. But 
don't figure on getting this started without expense. The 
county should pay for it as it is a benefit to them. And to 
your satisfaction you will be convinced how valuable a 
horseshoer is that has the ability to preside as a judge and 
master all of the branches of shoeing as they come to him. 
There may be some disappointment, take it all through 
the country. Such horseshoers, they are like bantam roost- 
ers and flying fish, rather scarce. Let me repeat in appeal to 
you, let your Fair Associations get this started. It will 
prevent sin and pain. Much more could be said about this, 
but I guess I said enough. 

42 



As we are now in the dawning of a more advanced and 
brighter day, horseshoeing should be recognized as of more 
than common importance, and great is the benefit from such 
recognition. The poor cart horse that drudges on stony pave- 
ments through each recurring day of his Hfe, as well as 
the high bred courser that minimizes time and surpasses 
the graceful fawn in the majesty and poetry of his mo- 
tion, both will share in the good results. 

Men who are engaged in the horseshoeing business 
should begin 'to understand not only the motive power of 
the horse but also the art of paring the foot so as to adjust 
it to the proper angle of the limb it supports. In order to 
excel in the subtle art of horseshoeing, thoroughness in all 
the intricate details, which pertain to the business, is indis- 
pensible and one should strive to be master of his calling. 
In order to be thus equipped, he should have resource to 
every storehouse of wisdom within the reach, never for- 
getting for a moment the results of his own experience. 

]\Ien have grown both rich and great by patient re- 
search and unremitting toil in the little things of life. Few 
arts are so^ perfect that they need not be disturbed and in 
the alembic of some human mind there may be undeveloped 
thoughts, which when applied will add new luster and utility 
to that which long has been regarded as perfect. It is 
well with the professional horseshoer, if he is what we call 
a born mechanic, able to know from a mechanical stand- 
point not only how to work but where to work and why 
such work when done should balance a horse, also that 
such knowledge is based on scientific principles and that 
scientific remedies only should be applied. 

Perhaps some do know it has long been my plea 
that the horse's right be respected and I intend to continue 
it, whether I accomplish much or little, I will at least have 
done my cluty. As a horseshoer, I think I have been fair- 
ly successful. It is not my desire to toot my own horn, 
but I have the honor and take pleasure in presenting here- 

43 



with what others say regarding me. The following letters 
were published in the horse papers as named : Spirit of the 
West, Des Moines, Iowa, — In the last issue of the Spirit 
of the West, I notice an item saying that good feet are 
the foundation of the horse. This reminds me of the 
first time I met Mr. Louis Petersen, of Sheldon, Iowa, who 
I had come to my barn to look over my horse's feet, and, 
said Mr. Petersen, your horse's feet are in fair condition, 
but should be improved in form. The next time I had 
Mr. Petersen shoe my horses. When I saw him prepare 
the feet, make and fit shoes for them, I made up my mind 
that he knew more about horses' feet and the way they 
should be shod than the average dictator, and from that 
day on, for the past ten years he has been my shoer. While 
I have always appreciated his work, but now only mention 
his skill as a scientific horseshoer when we cannot get 
him, as he has moved to the Pacific Coast. If I should go 
on and give the history of his success and tell half of what 
he has done in the way of shoeing lame and unsound horses, 
and aiding the speedy ones to speed faster, it would take a 
whole page of your paper, but 1 do not hesitate in saying, 
that his equal, as a scientific horseshoer, I do not believe 
is in existence. I have always been well paid for the many 
trips of twenty-five miles drive to his place of business. We 
do not appreciate the service of such men until they leave 
us. In saying this, I feel sure that I voice the sentiment of 
all good horse men here in the Northwest. 

DENNIS SCANLAN, 
Rock Valley, Iowa, April 17, 1907. 

Here, I wish to say a few words regarding Mr. 
Scanlan, who always had a crop of youngsters from a high 
bred mare that he kept for breeding purposes and crossed 
her with good horses, as to his own judgment. He al- 
ways broke and drove his own colts. And when they got 
two or three years old, they could all step some, and when 

44 



they commenced to look like a gold mine and somewhat 
talked about among horsemen, Mr. Scanlan would always 
sell them for a reasonable offer. The colts were all clean 
gaited, as he always kept the colt's feet of proper size and 
level from three months' of age. They were all strong go- 
ing. They all looked very prosperous. It seemed it was 
the way he developed them. He would never drive a colt 
to a break, neither would he speed them long distances to 
make them tired, to discourage them. They got most all 
of their exercise on the road and when they came to the 
track they enjoyed the smooth footing, and at times it 
looked as if they would run away on a trot. They could 
always do a little more than what they had reputation for. 
Then when a prospect buyer came, sales were made easy 
and quick, and in that way Mr. Scanlon never owned a race 
horse. I remember, I was called to his home place to shoe 
a three-year-old, and, as he remarked to me: There is some 
one here who wants to see the colt step this afternoon, and, 
I wonder if it would be better to let the shoeino- 
go till after I have shown the colt, as he is going very good 
as he is. I might have left them as they were, but the 
shoes had worn so thin that they were not safe to start 
with. Just after I had the feet ready for the new shoes, 
it commenced to rain, but it was only a shower. However, 
it made the track a little slippery, and as it happened I made 
the hind shoes a little different, the same as I would shoe all 
speedy horses, from what I had been shoeing him with. 
I had forged the toe of the hind shoes in a spoon shaped 
form. That kind of a toe gives a horse a sure grip for 
propelling. Such a toe keeps always clean, and, making the 
other part of the shoe half round, the feet do not fill with 
anything that interferes with a horse's balance or his speed. 
As I showed them to Mr. Scanlan, he said, I don't know 
how they will suit the colt, but I like them. This is true. 
A change in shoes is all right at any time, when we know the 
change is an improvement. And while the track was slip- 

45 



pery, or at least in spots, instead of using nails to fit the 
counter sunk in the shoe, I used nails with a larger head, 
so they projected a litte above the shoe. That way the 
slippery footing had no efifect on the colt's going, and the 
result was the colt went two seconds faster in that half 
mile than he had ever gone before, in spite of the unfavor- 
able footing, which everyone could see and were some- 
what surprised how the colt kept his feet. Now, it was not 
the shoes that made the colt go so much faster. The colt 
had that much speed and the shoes did not interfere with his 
speed. If at any time a shower should fall between heats, 
I advise to stick in four or five nails in each shoe with the 
heads projecting. It does not interfere with speed. On the 
other hand, it gives the horse confidence in landing and helps 
in flexing. After that half mile, Mr. Scanlan, like the colt, 
was quite well sprinkled with mud. Then, said Mr. Scanlan 
to the prospective buyer who had been in the grand stand 
with friends. How does the colt look to you ? And, said the 
buyer, I told my friends when you came on the home stretch, 
that I would give $500.00 for him. Then, said Mr. Scanlan, 
if you will, you bought the colt. And that was all there was 
to it. Mr. Scanlan was told later that he ought to have 
gotten a thousand dollars for him. Well, said Mr. Scanlan, 
it is always good principle to live and let live, and said this 
gentleman may have to spend another five hundred before 
he can win a race. I have had pleasure in driving him, and 
five hundred dollars will pay all the colt's expense. And 
Mr. Scanlan added, whenever we can have a good time and 
get paid for it, then its best to be satisfied. You see, most 
of the time it is otherwise, whenever we want to enjoy our- 
self most generally we must pay for it. It pays not to be 
selfish. After the deal was finished, Mr. Scanlan and I 
went back to the barn. He said to me, for the first time in 
all my experience, I was thinking about those nail heads 
while driving, and how did you ever think of letting the nail 
heads stick out; I see it now plain, the colt would never 

46 



have stayed on his feet without them. Well, sail I, we 
can all think of the right thing at the right time if we 
don't stock our brains with a lot of stuff that is not true. 
Men try to do so many things that they don't know any- 
thing about. Then, said Mr. Scanlan, every time I struck 
a wet place, I thought "now, it's all off," but it seemed that 
he went all the faster. Yes, said I, I was extremely well 
pleased in the way you finished, that you did not drive 
him under the wire with the whip. It made so much better 
showing, and it looked as if you were holding him back. It 
was not quite so excitable, iDut it was much more sensible, 
and I believe, Dennis, you could have been a race horse 
driver as well as a real estate dealer, but I know you will 
stay with the latter. 

As I started for my train, Mr. Scanlan handed me 
something, and said, take this for your caret'are. I thanked 
him and went in the car, and when the conductor came to 
collect fare, I took this token that Mr. Scanlan had placed 
in an envelope, and found, respectively, one ten and two 
twenty dollar bills. And the conductor, whose name was 
Charles Foote, said : Don't spring any bills on me. Well, 
said I, I got this from Mr. Scanlan, to pay my carfare. 
Then said Conductor Foote, Mr. Scanlan must have 
thought you were going to New York. No, said I, I 
shod a colt for him and that's what I got for it. Well, 
said Mr. Foote, keep it and I'l pay your car fare, and he 
tore a coupon from his account book and handed it to me 
with a smile. He, like Mr. Scanlan, likes to see others 
happy. 

Here is another letter that was published in the Chicago 
Horse Review, in the Christmas Number, 1899, from Mr. 
A. H. Yon Wickerwood Crommerling, of Heemsteade, 
Holland. I copy part of this letter, as he describes the 
breeding and names of his horses, etc. He, in part, says: 
Concurrent, Cyclone and Controleur won respectively the 
most honorable trotting prizes of the year in Holland. 

47 



Concurrent, the winner of the Dutch Derby, is a very diffi- 
cult driver, high strung, high kicking, and I had a great 
deal of trouble getting him balanced. At last I got him to 
going all right, trotting square, without any breaks on 
American shoes made by Mr. Louis Petersen, of Sheldon, 
Iowa, U. S. A., which helped me a great deal in 
winning the prizes as I drive all my horses in a Frazier 
sulky, I think you will agree with me that my turnout 
must look rather American. 

Mr. Crommerling in February, 1899, describing to me 
the horse's way of going and his troubles, I then asked hip* 
about the footing that the horses traveled over, and a 
few other questions, and to send me the size of the horses 
feet, and that I would design shoes for them. He did so. 
This horse, Concurrent, the winner of the Dutch Derby, 
he explained to me that he had an abnormal long stride 
and that he had a lot of speed, but would get mixed up 
because he could not gather quick enough in front; then 
he would get kind of mad and get to kicking. Now, this 
horse had in front a low, long stride, and behind, lots of 
hook action. I made the front shoes 14 ounces in weio^ht, 
thin at heels and toe, in a sort of rocker fashion, as Mr. 
Crommerling told me the footing was rather soft or loose. 
I left the web in the center of the shoe wide and thicker 
than either heel or toe. In this way he could contain his 
stride, but the motion was quickened because there was 
nothing to impede his landing and flexing. The hind shoes 
I made five ounces with a bar across the branches of the 
heel to strengthen the shoes as the feet were rather large 
and turned a calk at each branch of the heels. This has 
a tendency to reduce hock action and prevent slipping and 
results of advice and shoes was as Mr. Crommerling report- 
ed in The Review. 

Now I did not know Mr. Crommerling, because I have 
never been in Holland. My native country is Germany, and 
after four years of apprenticeship I went to Denmark. I 

48 



worked six months in that country. There the horseshoe- 
ing and tools were the same as in Germany, and working 
hours the same, fourteen hours a day, and shoes were made 
out of old shoes. I left Denmark on a steamer to France, 
landed at Calais. 

I know the feeling between Germans and French at 
that time was not the very best, in 1878, and I don't know 
whether it is any better at present. You see this is April 
6th, 191 5. But, anyway, I got a job in a shoeing shop. 
This shop was shoeing most all heavy horses. Of course, 
hard work did not bother me, for that I was used to. In 
Calias the shoes were made different, they were made out 
of stock to suit the weight of the shoe. It was in France 
for the first time that I saw shoes without crease, and the 
big horses were shod with plain shoes in front. Those 
large horses did the work of a steam engine. They 
switched the freight car from the Ship Street where the 
ships were unloaded, into railroad cars. The cars were 
then pulled to the railroad freight depot by one or two 
horses. These horses were trained for that like the best 
fire horses in this country. Two horses would be hitched to 
a full car, one ahead of the other. As soon as the car was 
started, then by a certain signal, from the brakeman, the 
leader would jump sideways. At the same time, the single- 
tree would come unfastened. Then after he was clear from 
the track, he would stand there until some one lead him 
away for the next pull. Most all of the heavy horses 
were gray and white. A few things I like better in France 
than in Germany: In Calias, we only had to work thirteen 
hours a day, while in Germany fourteen. Wages were 
about the same, something like $2.50 to $3.00 a week. In 
all the different countries that I have been, in Europe. tJie 
men that brings the horse, holds the foot for the shoer. In 
those countries that I worked in^ in Europe, I like the 
French ways of shoeing the best, but, however, I think 
there is no horseshoer anywhere that I know of that equals 

49 



the American expert shoer, but in America there are too 
many pretend to be horseshoers, and that knocks the beauty 
all out of it. There is no organization that I know of that 
interferes with the fake horseshoer. Here, they look more 
after a dollar than they look after either man or beast. 
All the protection you get from being a member of the 
organization amounts to nothing. Many organizations 
should improve their conditions, instead of trying 
to get more members. In making rules it should 
all be well considered, so that they can be fulfilled with 
both pleasure and profit, and always consider the customer 
so that he is not cut out of accommodation. When in the Old 
Country, I never saw a harness race-horse; until I came to 
this country, I never heard of a pacing gait. I don't 
think there are any pacers in Europe. 

For fast going, it is either a trotter or a runner. While 
I never shod any of that kind, maybe it was because I had 
only worked at it five or six years. 

I came to this country in 1880, and for the first time 
used machine-made shoes and nails. That made work 
easy; aside from that, there were shorter hours here, better 
wages, too. Tell me, who wouldn't like America? 

As I said before, scientific shoeing will prevent sin and 
pain. As it is now, there is too much experimenting done 
in horseshoeing. For instance, a horse may stumble from 
his feet being long; he may stumble and fall from his feet 
being short. The secret is to know at what angle to pare 
the feet to suit the bearings above, to prevent friction, and, 
consequently, stumbling, everything else being normal. 
Now, do not misunderstand me, that I am writing for profit 
or revenge, even if it appears to you that there are some 
sweeping remarks, if I have said things that are distasteful, 
it is, nevertheless, kindly meant. I am writing in hope that 
it may be of benefit to the horse and the man that owns him ; 
while I am helping you I am helping myself also, as I am 
writing this little book to sell and to get enough out of it to 

50 



pay expenses : You get the benefit of my experiences free 
of charge. 

Writing a Uttle book Hke this with my feeble knowl- 
edge of the American language is not an easy task, and, 
especially when you work all day with hammer and tongs, 
then change off to pen and ink, you also have to change 
your whole thoughts. To make this little book read inter- 
esting, one must bring out new thoughts, and they must 
come from facts, as I am trying to avoid criticism, for when 
it is printed, there is no way of changing it. It is like get- 
ting your picture taken : When the instrument commences 
to click, the picture must remain, good or bad. In part, 
why I'm writing this is because I am lonesome, and so I 
have priced the book that no good thinking men or women 
should be without it. It is not only good for those who 
shoe horses ; it is equally as valuable for those who own 
horses. It should be read with interest and benefit for mar- 
ried people, as well as those who are not married. I hope I 
have done no injustice, either, to myself or the purchasers 
who may read it. Don't you know a lonesome person can 
get so hungry for a loving word from those he thinks of 
most, that we may talk to ourselves and smile at the same 
time. Make it answer as a sort of substitute. Most every- 
body has a desire to do something after working hours, and 
for me to pass away my lonely hours, I desire to tell you 
about my forty years' experience and learning of horseshoe- 
ing, etc., as I am beginning to think that I understand at 
least part of it pretty well, but I know also I may not last 
much longer, because the hinges in my anatomy are getting 
kind of rusty and I am getting a little nervous about shoeing 
a nervous horse, and two nervous creatures don't get along 
together very well, as I am easily excited. Somehow luck 
has been with me, as I have never been hurt by a horse that 
caused a lay-up, and so I am still enjoying the work and all 
by myself. 

As said before, married people should try and under- 

51 



stand each other, study each other and thereby keep love in 
circulation like a horseshoer should understand the science 
of shoeing. I know it is a heart-breaking job to under- 
stand and study the anatomy of a horse's foot. Do not 
think that the foot is only like a block of wood, or a solid 
mass of horn. Suppose you take a look at the inside of a 
phonograph, how wonderfully it is constructed, or take the 
works of a valuable watch, but all these wonders pale when 
it comes to the living machinery of a horse's foot, with its 
bones, joints, laminaes, velvety tissues, planter cushion, 
horny frog, sold and wall, tendons and ligaments or main 
springs and hair springs, so to speak, etc., all enclosed in an 
envelope like. To study and understand the working ap- 
paratus of a horse's foot it is similar to trying to 
read a letter in an enclosed envelope. Of course, 
you can open the envelope and read it, you have been to 
school and know how, and that's the way we must learn to 
understand the anatomy of a horse's foot and a part above, 
both in health and disease. You have to take a foot and 
limb from a dead horse, remove the hide, separate the parts 
and boil the horny hoof from the internal parts. At the be- 
ginning to understand the anatomy and functions of a 
horse's foot, where there aren't any schools or teachers, is 
rather a slow process and at first somewhat disinteresting, 
and very few think anything of it. It is like somebody 
plants a tree, nobody pays any attention until it has grown 
to some degree of usefulness; then when its branches have 
spread in beauty, and we sit beneath its grateful shade we 
then say how good and thoughtful some men are. The 
shade of such trees can be enjoyed for the future of our 
life, and only he who plants a tree can hope to enjoy the 
shade from it, and only he who studies the science of shoe- 
ing can hope to understand it and reap reward from it. 
We can all learn it if we want to learn it bad enough. We 
can learn anything if we have the mental capacity to do so. 
It depends on how bad we want to learn, or, if you want to 

52 



pay a blacksmith's bill, you can pay it. It all depends on 
how bad you want to pay it, but we must not only wish for 
a thing, we must work for it. Let me prove to you from 
what I have said as to myself when I came to this country 
from Germany, I had to learn the new language. I was 
then twenty-five years of age. I had never heard or saw in 
print the American language. I had never been to school 
and have never had anyone teach me, but I was bound to 
learn to read the American print. I have labored many 
nights, have gone without sleep trying to accomplish some- 
thing that I really wanted, and, in that way, I have learned 
to read and write. This sort of a self-education is as 
hard to get as it is to understand the anatomy and function 
of a horse's foot, maybe a little worse. But it matters not 
how hard it is. Intelligent labor is a pleasure as well as 
profit, because reward of success and accomplishment is 
gained thereby. If we don't stop to learn, we will always 
be able to earn. I have learned enough about horseshoeing 
that I know it is a science, and I want to say right here : 
Legislation should acknowledge it as such. Many race 
horses have become winners after properly shoeing them. 
There is speed in a horseshoe like there is happiness in love, 
if we know how to make it. A horse's stride can be short- 
ened or lengthened, it may be regulated by the angle of the 
foot. If you want to shorten a horse's stride and you can- 
not change the angle of the foot by paring, then elevate the 
heel by placing a wedge of leather between shoe and foot. 
Secure the leather with a rivet to the branches of the heel. 

There are race horses, their strides in front are too 
long because of an excessive development of the extensor 
tendon. At times, it makes a horse look as if he was labor- 
ing and makes hard work for him : If you want to length- 
en a horse's stride, and if the feet are at the right angle, let 
the feet be as they are ; use an even plain shoe, then put on 
an adjustable toe weight. The toe weight will cultivate the 
extensor tendon and muscles, and in time will produce a 

53 



stride as desired. Toe weights should be used in all jog- 
ging, as well as in work-outs. It may be advisable after a 
horse has been going a fast mile or two to change the toe 
weights from five ounces to three, or at least reduce the 
weight. Quickening the motion can be accomplished by 
the shape of the shoe. The shoe should be so constructed 
that the center of the shoe is the highest part on the ground 
bearing surface and that part somewhat wider in web, and 
especially where the footing is loose, the branches of the 
heels should be thinner and the toe to correspond. The ac- 
tion of the limbs can be governed by the weight of the shoes. 
To increase action the shoe should be heavier, with most of 
the weight in the branches of the heels, and the toe of the 
shoe should fit flush around the toe of the foot; have the 
shoe of even thickness from heel to toe. If there is an ex- 
cess of action, that it may cause a loss of motion, the shoe 
should be light and a leather rim, or felt, should be placed 
between shoe and foot. It will deaden the blow when land- 
ing and retard action, and all other desirable motions can 
be accomplished by preparing the foot properly for the 
proper shoe. Wherever the footing is firm and level for a 
horse to travel, lame horses can be made to go sound where 
they are curable — all by mechanical treatment. 

So you see a shoe on a horse's foot is an instrument of 
either too good advantage, or disadvantage. Horse owners 
should take no chances to be lured into shops because some 
smiths make it appear that their place of business is like a 
bargain counter. Such smiths are the death knell to the 
science of shoeing ; they are poison to a horse, Hke a red rag 
is to a bull. Iknow this may not sound in a way very 
refined, but I can't help it. I get a little excited and once in 
a while make a break. But I say it in a friendly spirit, and 
when you look at things as I see them, I know you will par- 
don me. It is up to you, horse owners, to help along good 
work and realize that the best of us are none too good. 

A true horseshoer studies shoeing, it is like a good 

54 



habit, when you once get a taste of it and understand it, it 
is interesting, and where there is pleasure in doing a thing, 
that by itself is a profit. For instance, I have said I am 
lonely, and I am passing away the time after working hours 
writing, it is some satisfaction to me to know that you will 
read this. In that way, I break my silence with you because 
rny heart beats, my mind thinks, and, understand me, there 
is a limit to this mental slavery, but when I know you are 
interested in reading this little book, I will feel relieved. 

Take married life as a science, the point is to avoid 
breaking the first thread in life of love. I am sure marriage 
can be a heavenly state if we want to make it so. But the 
trouble is with married man, they always have or make 
something more interesting for themselves in life than their 
wife, whether such is for good or bad, right or wrong, and 
he expects that his concerns shall be the only interest of his 
wife, which often causes dispute. Failures and disappoint- 
ments are the results. Man must make a change, and, so 
must you. It is like shoeing a colt, the first couple of shoe- 
ings have much to do with the future of his feet and his be- 
having in the shop. How a colt ought to be shod? The 
shoe should be plain. Shoes made out of half round stock 
are quite suitable. The feet should not be burned, not only 
it isn't good for the foot, but the smoke from the hot 
shoe may also scare the colt, and if we don't use any clips 
we don't have to burn them to the foot to fit. Clips may be 
necessary some time and can be used without injuring the 
foot, if they are fitted with care, and you understand 
the use and abuse of it. You may say if we don't use clips, 
the shoes don't stay on as well. This sounds reasonable, 
but the great trouble is, we hollow the feet out too much 
and don't leave a proper bearing surface for the shoe to rest 
on. The sole part next the wall should not be cut out; let 
the shoe rest on it like it does on a wall. Only at times 
when a horse has been neglected and his feet have worn to 
the sensitive part of the sole, a shoe must then be concaved 



and bear weight on the wall only. It is often the case that 
the outside of the foot is worn away to such an extent that 
the foot cannot be reduced to a level. The foot must then 
be leveled up in such case with a strip of leather, for the 
shoe to get an even bearing with the rest of the foot. Do 
not try to reduce the sole with a knife, because it will draw 
blood and the horse is apt to go lame. In such case it is 
best to use a front shoe on a hind foot. In speaking of 
clips, I have removed quite a few shoes in my time where 
lameness was caused by unskillfuUy adjusting them. 

Where the toes of the feet were rotten from fever 
had caused separation of the wall and sole. 
The most damage done with clips is on large flat feet just 
where they are most necessary; they, however, can be used 
without harm, if we just know how, but if we would save 
this work of cutting the sole so that the shoe has more of a 
surface to rest on. Six or eight nails and without a clip 
will hold a well-fitted shoe on a good foot, and, furthermore, 
cutting the horny soles and rasping the outer walls causes 
a dryness of the foot, but it is an old custom from which 
we ought to drift away. Those habits are nothing but 
wasteful hobbies. It is doiie, I think, with the view of 
beautifying the foot to please the eye. Save that work, and 
at the same time the foot and horse. It is like in married 
life, if an unpleasant act occurs, forget it, break away from 
the habits of thinking and forgiving. A retentive memory 
is a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of 
greatness, so the thing to do is to forget. Close your eves 
to little things and love your wife for her faults. Men and 
women should both share in all joys and sorrows, and you 
got to let men or women have their heads once in a while, 
put that into your noodles and don't let it get away from 
you. It is similar to that of shoeing a nervous horse. If 
we know how to read a horse's disposition and control our 
temper, too. A nervous horse, when he wants to take his 
foot, while shoeing him, generally it is best to let him have 

56 



it, instead of fighting him in trying to hold it. Then, when 
he has his foot, pet him, talk kindly to him, he understands 
words of encouragement. In doing this, he gets confidence 
in men and soon he will let you shoe him without fear. Fear 
in horses is like fear in men, there is no freedom to the mind 
till that fear is destroyed, and so it is. Men are Hke horses 
and to get along with them best you got to let them have 
their heads once in a while. 

Kindness to a horse works the same as kindness to a 
man, you know how it feels when it seems as though very- 
body is down on you, how good it is when some thoughtful 
friend meets you with a cheery greeting, at least it reminds 
one that he still belongs to the circle of humanity, or have 
you ever noticed a horse that has been neglected and is ex- 
hausted for the want of a drink, he will tell you in his mute, 
but significant, language his appreciation when you water 
him, for your kindness to him ; but some people always tell 
how sorry they are for an unfortunate friend who perhaps 
was forced to go to the County Poor Farm. The way to let 
people know how sorry you really are is for you to dig down 
in your jeans for some cash, that's what he needs, and you 
are relieved at. once of this sorry feeling, and you need not 
waste any time in telling about it. It will make your unfor- 
tunate friend feel happy. Such ailments are among 
horseshoers, if some horseshoer has unfortunately or other- 
wise blundered, causing the horse to go lame and this horse 
happens to come to your shop and you discovered and no- 
ticed the cause of it, it is not necessary nor good for you to 
keep talking about the other fellow's mistake, all you need to 
do is to make a change and correct the mistake. The im- 
provements you make, the horse will speak for it, and you 
will be rewarded. The only motive of right living is to be 
right in thought and right in acts. Cursed be the traitorous 
slanderer who under the whip of envy shows ill-will towards 
others. In the eyes of the public, horseshoers are like toys 
that are moved about by little children, because we do not 

57 



move with the rest of the world. Children are always as- 
sisted in some way to remind them of what they are in- 
structed to do, and we horseshoers need something to re- 
mind us. Allow me to say it is the blood of pollution 
that has already robbed us of the choicest jewel through 
jealousy that we are surrounded with. Don't let us yield 
to jealousy any more and be ruled by the effect of it. Let 
us strive to live in peace. And at no time should we neglect 
or abuse a horse. He should at least be treated like a good 
officer treats his soldiers. To curse a horse is just as bad 
as to curse a man. Perhaps it is worse. A man may strike 
back, where the horse is practically within himself and help- 
less. Courage of a horse comes from the courage of his 
master; alone, he is timid, and nervous. We, as human be- 
ings, should see to it that he is not needlessly alarmed and 
mistreated. 

So, whenever we see htat we can encourage or relieve a 
horse from distress, it is our duty to do so. An unexpected 
act of kindness when we are slightly blue gives new courage 
to men, and horses also. Such is often enough to redeem a 
man from loneliness and heart exile. It is to be regretted to 
know of some horses' reward at old age, men should realize 
that the horse has a heart and it is in loving sympathy with 
our own. If he is outliving his usefulness, don't let the 
springs of affection grow dry, remember for twenty years 
he has been your servant without a complaint or cry. Don't 
you think it's hard for his only reward to turn him out to 
die? But just as you are dealing with old age, may destiny 
deal with you. 



58 



The Don'ts 

Don't you know, truth crushed to earth will rise again. 
Don't you know, we all ought to have the companion- 
ship of good thoughts. 

Don't neglect your horse just because he is not earning 

his feed. 

Don't get your horses shod if they don t need it. 

Don't let an ugly man shoe your horses, because he is 
like poison to them. 

Don't drive a lame horse, because that is cruel. 

Don't have your horses shod with a common three-calk 
shoe on the front feet. r i • i • 

Don't beautify a horse's feet with the view of thinking 

it looks nice. 

Don't you know there is always somebody that knows 
more about' some things than you do? . r u 

Don't shoe horses when your mind is on a prize hght. 

Don't let a cheap horseshoer poison your mind and de- 
strov the comfort of your horse. 

"^ Don't think that you are paying too much for horse- 
shoeing when you have confidence in the man who shoes 

Don't think that every man is a good horseshoer just 
because he is shoeing horses. . 

Don't you think there must be something wrong with 
some horseshoers, when material advances and they reduce 
the price of shoeing? 

Don't you know all horses that are kept at work or in 
corrals, should eat some International Stock Food made m 
Minneapolis, Minnesota? . 

Don't think this is advertising, it is my advice to you, 
because it is the best stock food, to keep animals in good 
condition, that I know of. 

Don't you know that the Studebaker motor cars are 

■59 



getting a reputation equal to that of their wagons? 

Don't you know Germany was not the cause of the 
European War? 

Don't you know, as for Southern CaUfornia, Orange 
county is the place to live for profit, pleasure, peace and 
rest? Can you beat it? 

Don't think that horseshoeing is like selling silk at cali- 
co prices, and figure on getting a bargain. 

Don't forget that the Capewell Horseshoe nail is the 
only reliable nail that I know of. It holds the shoe without 
burning the foot to it. 

Don't you know, horse-back riding adds to your health 
and keeps you good-natured? 

Don't burn horses' feet with a hot shoe, and fit the foot 
to it. 

Don't forget that a shoe on a horse's foot is an instru- 
ment of good or ill. 

Don't think that scientific horseshoeing is expensive, 
when you know that his shoes fit him, like a well-fitted boot 
on your own feet. 

Don't think that I don't appreciate and need your 
patronage. 

Don't you know that all that a horseshoer needs to know 
about a horse's foot is as much as all the horse doctors in the 
United States put together know ? 

Don't be careless in listening to bargains in horseshoe- 
ing. 

Don't you know there is hardly anybody learning horse- 
shoeing now-a-days, and I know the reason why. 

Don't you know why there is so much demand for 
Union Oils ? It's the quality. . 

Don't forget that horseshoeing is a science as well as 
an art. 

Don't lose your temper when handling nervous horses. 

Don't forget that horses' feet need attention once a 
month as well as his feed every day. 

60 



Don't think that scientific horseshoeing can't do any- 
thing for your lame horses. 

Don't be surprised that many blacksmiths would have 
to quit horseshoeing if a Board of Examiners would test 
themi as to their knowledge on anatomy of a horse's foot. 

Don't you know there is speed in a horseshoe, Hke there 
is happiness in love ,if we know how to make it? 

Don't think that scientific horseshoeing can't correct ir- 
regularities in the action of a horse. 

Don't think that the horse hasn't got a language, be- 
cause you can't read it. 

Don't think that you are paying more for horseshoe- 
ing at my place than your neighbor. 

Don' forget that it is easier to prevent a horse from 
going lame than to cure him. 

Don't forget a well-trained eye for a horseshoer on 
horses' feet is indispensable. 

Don't forget your horse and your shoer's place of busi- 
ness. 



61 



THE HORNY BOX AND THE UNCOVERED 
STRUCTURE 





62 



The foot proper is an envelope in a mass of fibrous tis- 
sues known as laminas, united to either structure and their 
relation to each other is such that in the most minute manner 
they fit as closely together as does the closely united leaves 
of a book and yet delicate appearing as they are, their office 
is such that the animal depends on the laminaes for carrying 
weight. 

I have said that the new artificial roads are a blessing to 
the horse because level and firm footing is to his benefit, if 
we understand how to shoe to suit the new conditions. 
And now, more than ever, a shoe becomes an instrument of 
either good or ill. 

From the above cut, it will be seen that the foot of the 
horse is well provided with elastic tissues to break concus- 
sion and that we need not depend on the frog altogether 
to take off the jar, aside from the yielding of the elasic tis- 
sues in the foot. While a horse strikes the pavements each 
joint from the foot to the shoulder is provided with elastic 
buffers. Nature has made great plans for the horse's en- 
durance, if man don't rob her of its good intention. 

I produce this to show that the horse's weight is not 
carried by the bottom of the sole of the foot, but his weight 
is supported by the sensitive and insensitive laminaes and 
by them the animal depends on suspension. Those lami- 
naes fit close together and are dove-tailed into each 
other. They are connected with tissue to the footbone and 
fit in to another mass of sockets of the horny hoof. One 
can imagine how painful it is to a horse when a foot be- 
comes contracted, the laminaes become inflamed, there isj.u 
room for expansion as they are between the footbone and 
the horny hoof. They surround the entire foot and interior 
hoof. At each rise and fall of the foot, those laminaes 
ascend and descend and the sole, it is said, slightly yields. 
If the laminaes become inflamed there is a stiffness in the 
horse's way of traveling, similar to that of a founder, as a 
founder is nothing else but an inflammation of the tissues 

63 



or laminaes. To relieve the inflammation of the feet, soak 
them in warm water or a poultice may be applied for a few 
days. Feed him bran mashes and hay only. Feed him that 
way for about ten days and exercise the animal a little every 
day. When shoeing, use Shoe No. i, this shoe allows of an 
easy motion and gives good support for the sole of the foot. 
In most all cases of founder or lamanitis, the sole is weak 
and easily yields to pressure and should be protected by a 
wide web shoe and after the day's work the feet should be 
supplied with wet swabs around the coronary of the whole 
foot. 




Showing Shoe No. 1 
for foundered foot with 
a rolled toe, gradually 
tapering from toe to 
heel, to suit the bear- 
ing of the coffin joint. 



No. 1 

Navicular disease or coffin joint lameness is a sort of 
a hidden disease. It may be indicated by the way the horse 
travels and wears his shoes. His steps are short and stilty. 
The shoes wear at the extreme point of the toe. He is in- 
clined to show great tendency to stumble. When at rest 
he points his feet in a forward direction. When in motion 
he will start off quite lame and get some better as he warms 
up. After a drive when put away his feet should be sup- 



64 



plied with wet swabs. When the disease is beyond me- 
chanical treatment, there is then no cure for it. The cheap- 
est way out and the quickest way to give the horse relief is 
to kill him. 



Shoe No. 2 is the best 
device that I know of 
for navicular disease. 
It has the bar curved 
in the center on the 
ground bearing sur- 
face, which makes it 
easy for the horse when 
turning and flexing. 



No. 2 

A bar shoe is a good shoe to use for contracted feet, 
because you can do anything to the back part of the feet 
where the bar is resting on the frog. The frog being in 
proper condition the bar can take care of weak or diseased 
heels. If a foot is contracted the best way to restore it to 
normal .conditions, weaken the contracted parts with a rasp 
from the coronary band to the ground bearing surface. 
Rasp it thin enough so it yields to pressure of your thumb. 
Keep the feet moist and work the horse whenever you need 
him. See. to it that the heels are free from carrying weight 
during development of new heels. The object of weakening 
the heels on the outside is to allow expansion to the lami- 




65 



naeted structures, this wil 
prove the articulation. 




start the circulation and that 



No. 3 

Bar Shoe. This 
is a good form of 
bar shoe for con- 
tracted feet. If the 
frog cannot take the 
pressure, then let 
the bar be even with 
the branges of the 
heels on the ground- 
bearing surface. It 
helps some. 



No. 4 

Pacing Shoe No. 
10 attached to foot. 




66 




This represents a colt's 
front shoe when being 
shod the first time. 
Four nails will hold it 
in place till he needs 
shoeing. With this 
kind of a shoe the colt 
will not stub his toes 
and neither does it jar 
the heels. It is made 
from half-round stock 
with a scoop toe. Use 
them on the lighter 
bred colt that gets 
early training. 



No. 5 



This is a good shoe 
for a speedy trotter. 
There is nothing to 
impede the motion, in 
landing or flexing. For 
speed it is just a little 
better than a plain 
shoe. A sharp ridge 
is forged round the toe 
in the center of the 
web. 




67 




No. 7 



No. 8 is a hind shoe 
for either trotter or 
pacer to prevent brush- 
ing the ankles or coro- 
net. It gives the horse 
a firm grip for propell- 
ing. 



A bar shoe for either 
a trotter or pacer. It 
is made out of half- 
inch square stock. The 
toe of the shoe is twist- 
ed to prevent slipping 
and at the same time 
it is like a rolling mo- 
tion. All together it 
gives a horse sure foot- 
ing. 




No. 8 



68 




No. 11 

A good front shoe 
for a trotter that is 
kind of wild in his 
actions and slips and 
slides in any kind of 
footing. The front 
knobs are welded 
with a set and have 
the form and shape 
of a center punch. 
It is a good shoe for 
a horse that is com- 
pelled to start off 
quick at speed. 



A front trotting shoe 
to quicken the motion 
and to add mobility. 
It was in 1898 when I 
designed this shoe. I 
got the idea from 
seeing Osland L.,work. 
He had a long stride 
and the appearance of 
laboring in front. With 
this style of shoe he 
got a mark of 2:16 that 
year. He was owned 
by G. W. Sherwood, of 
St. Paul. He was sold 
and went to Russia, as 
I remember, and was 
used as a ringer. 




No. 15 



69 




No. 12 

A good hind shoe 
to add mobility. I 
believe it is a great 
shoe for speed and 
endurance. 



In case a trotter or pacer has too much stride behind. 
We all know there are lots of good quarter horses, but many 
o fthem get tired in going the mile. A hitch in their gait is 
generally noted. The real race horse makes all possible efforts 
to keep up his speed, but he weakens and cannot keep that 
clip, because of his foot being at too great a forward angle. 
You see, all the driving power comes from the hind limbs, 
and, where a horse's stride is too long, so that it interferes 
with his natural strength, he should be so equipped on the 
bottom of his feet, to allow him his stride, and at the same 
time, use his strength to the best advantage for speed. Any 
hoof, shoe, or stride, beyond the limit, is a loss of power, 
as it causes extra leverage for the flexing of the feet, to the 
propelHng limbs. This shoe reduces leverage, and therefore 
makes movements easier, and, consequently hitching or hop- 
ping may be prevented. Calks placed in such positions are 
also better for the foot. Hind shoes for the speedy horse 



70 



should always be made to prevent slipping. For when the 
foot is extended, and, accidentally slips one way or the other, 
without the animal being prepared for it, there is danger of 
a rupture of the membranes at the coffin joint. The conse- 
quences are an effusion of blood between the two tendons, 
whereby the motion is effected. Failure and disappoint- 
ment are the inevitable consequences, because it is hard to 
locate such lameness as there is no swelling to be seen any- 
where. Often it is mistaken for paster joint lameness, be- 
cause the horse will stand cock-ankled for the relief of the 
rupture around the pedal joint. We can convince ourselves 
that there is nothing wrong with the paster joint, by lifting 
up the other foot so that he must carry weight on the affect- 
ed foot that will bring the paster joint back in place, and if 
all looks well, then keep the foot cool and give the horse 
rest. Of course, we are not interested how to cure such 
lameness, because only nature can heal it, like in many other 
cases of lameness where there is no swelling to be seen. 
We want to prevent them, and, a shoe made as shown in cut 
12, on horses as described herein, will add to his speed, pre- 
vent slipping, and consequently spraining:. I have used 
them with good results, and they are just as good as they 
look in print, only it takes a little extra time to make them. 
A bar across the heels adds to the strength and durability of 
the shoe. 



71 




No. 9 

To prevent knee knock- 
ing, accidentall)' or other- 
wise. 



I tumbled to the idea of making this shoe partly from 
the way it was worn and partty from what the driver, Mr. 
Cooper, told me. Around the outside toe the shoe is 
worked down to a knife edge. The object of this is to give 
the pacing horse a firm foothold, at the same time it does 
not interfere with the horse's flexing, because the sharp part 
cuts in. You see the horse that strikes his ankles or his 
knees most generally breaks at the outside toe and at no time 
should we try to do things that interferes with the freedom 
of his movements as that is against speed. 

In Iowa and neighboring states it became known as the 
''Major Dent" Shoe, as it was that horse that got the first 
shoe of this kind that I had ever made or seen and the horse 
raced successfully for two or three years after. It is simple 
in its construction, only it requires a little extra time to 
make it, like all special shoes do to do the work, they must 
be just so. You remember I have said that a shoe on a 
horse's foot is an instrument of either good or ill and for 
speed it depends more on the shape of a shoe than the 
weight of it. Now I do not know whether you care to 
know anything more about this shoe or not, but I am sure 



72 



that it is worth your time to know, so I am going to tell of 
it. 

This horse, Major Dent, came down the line from 
Mitchell, South Dakota. He had started in four or five 
places which had been discouraging, as Mr. Cooper, the 
driver, said : ''This horse hasn't been in the money since 
we left home ; only in Canton we got third money." I hap- 
pened to be at the Canton races myself and saw it all and I 
asked Mr. Cooper, How many horses were in that race? 
Well, said he, there were only three in it, but, said Mr. Coop- 
er, I have confidence in him if wx can keep him from hit- 
ting his knees he can make up for what he lost. I shod him 
Wednesday, and his race was to come off on Friday, but he 
worked the horse some the same day I shod him while he 
didn't say much he said he was pleased with the change. 
This was at Sheldon, Iowa, where he was entered on the 
25 pace, but rain prevented his starting. Mr. Cooper had 
entered his string at Sioux City, Iowa, and shipped from 
Sheldon there and before the races at that place Mr. Cooper 
sent word to me to be sure and come to see Major Dent 
race, and to bring an extra pair of front shoes of the same 
pattern. I knew then I had made something new that was 
useful, so I, with others, went to the fair. It was again Mr. 
Cooper's bad luck or otherwise Major Dent had to start on 
Friday. He drew fifth place and was on the outside in the 
first tier, as there were nine starters. After a couple times 
scoring, they got the word they were the fastest bunch for 
that class that had ever faced a Sioux City starter. They 
hung together pretty well to the half and before they got 
to the first turn Mr. Cooper was trailing the pole horse 
apparently going easy. All were trying hard for a place be- 
cause there was a $1000.00 purse and at the three-quarter 
pole. Major Dent was still trailing the pole horse, while 
others had fallen back. After the last turn, Mr. Cooper 
drove away from the fence and soon it was neck and neck 
with those two horses coming down the home stretch till 

73 



under the wire, where the judges gave Major Dent second 
place. Time 2 :i2^. In the second heat, and at the }i pole 
the winner of the first heat fell and died in his tracks. Ma- 
jor Dent had then the lead and others were coming fast. 
Again Major Dent was given second place, time 2:18^. 
For that heat Mr. Cooper was fined $25.00 for not driving 
his horse to win. After that Mr. Cooper stayed further 
back just enough to beat the flag and got second money 
out of that $1000.00 purse and no mark. The next morning 
I went and visited Mr. Cooper's camp. 

He greeted me with a smile and said : This race horse 
business is something like a lawsuit, when you win you lose. 
Well, I said, I think you had a pretty lucky day yesterday. 
Well, said Mr. Cooper, I never paid a fine of $25.00 because 
I didn't win. Well, I said, I am not going to talk to please 
you. I believe, myself, that you could have won that second 
heat easy. But, look here, said Mr. Cooper, after this I got 
to race on half mile tracks, and in this way I can start in 
the green class and feel pretty sure I can be in the money. 
But, said I, you know the 25 pace went just as fast as the 
15 pace. Yes, said Mr. Cooper, but as long as he has no 
record, I can always enter him in two classes and then take 
my choice. Then, I said, well, then you really don't blame 
the judges for what they did? No, said Mr. Cooper, but 
when a man puts up a good horse race he hadn't ought 
to be fined. No, I said, but the judges didn't think you did, 
and I, like the judges, believe you could have won the race. 

Well, said Mr. Cooper, let us change the subject, sup- 
posing I get on a track where the footing is rather loose, 
how will those shoes work? Then, I said, that is just 
where they shine. You see, the sharp, narrow web will 
sink in easier while the wide web on the mside will carry 
the foot up on that side. In that way the knee will be 
tilted outward. This aids the passing foot to go by and 
furthermore there is less exertion in flexing when break- 
ing over therefore the swing inward is lessened. You see 

74 



when a horse interferes we must consult the structures 
above for the foot itself should always be kept level. That 
is the only safe way to keep a foot in a healthy condition. 
Mr. Cooper was satisfied with the explanation and 
]Major Dent was a good race horse for at least two years 
after and always raced in that style of shoe. So, you see 
how the right kind of a shoe can add to a horse's speed. 
But don't overlook this, this horse had never raced over 
a mile track before and the long turns helped some to clear 
himself, and, in addition, the Sioux City track was very 
fast and that also in part gave Major Dent an increase of 
12 seconds' speed faster than he had ever gone before, so 
let us place the credit where it belongs, part shoes, turn and 
track, and the wav a horse is driven. 




No. lO 

Pacing hind shoe. 



This shoe I used on a pacing mare, Lillian C, who, 
like Major Dent, never won a race because of the poor 
quality of her hind feet. She came to Sheldon, Iowa, where 



75 



I used to live and was bought by Mr. J. R. Mitchell, of 
that place, was trained and raced by Mr. Harry Leggett. At 
the beginning we had some trouble keeping her hind shoes 
in place as she would not or could not pace without calks, but 
before she started racing, I put on a pair of shoes as shown 
in Cut 10, and provided Mr. Leggett with an extra pair. 
With those two pair of shoes she won eight races out 
of ten starts. And I believe, if her toes had been shortened, 
when the second pair were put on she might not have 
lost them because the time was not any faster, but the long 
toes tired her at the last end of the mile and Mr. Leggett 
had to take third money in both of those last tw^o starts. 
When Mr. Leggett came home with his string, he had had a 
very successful campaign. I asked Mr. Leggett, why did 
you not have Lillian C's hind feet shortened? Well, said 
he, when you get away from home and got to depend on all 
kinds of blacksmiths, and when your horses are all going 
good, it is my experience to not let them make much change 
on the feet and especially feet like Lillian C's. This is 
one time that I was well pleased, when we put the new set 
of hind shoes on, all the old nail holes fit it. It made the 
cap fit solid against the toe and today they are just as they 
were put on. Now, to make a long story short, shoeing 
and shoes, is, after all, one of the main parts of a horse's 
success for speed and endurance. Notice, for instance, this 
shoe, the last nail holes are punched to the extreme at the 
heels because it was the best part of the feet, I welded the 
side clips to the shoe the same as the heels and toe calks. 
I welded them because I got a stronger and longer clip 
and it was in part of those clips that added to the success 
in making the shoe stay. I forged a toe cap from the stock 
of the shoe about three and one-half inches around the 
toe. Nailed them with No. 5 Capewell City Head, in that 
way the two sets of shoes were held in place for ten weeks' 
racing. Of course, it takes a little extra time to make those 
special shoes but if they are made just right, put on right, 

76 



they are always bound to work right in their place, and 
time should not be considered. 




No. 13 

A light pacing hind 
shoe. 



This is a good pattern for a pacer, easy made. It will 
not cut the quarters when cross-firing. I made them out of 
two pieces, for the outside a piece of rib steel, use half round 
for the inside. Stick them together at the toe and turn it. 
Punch a few extra nail holes well back towards the heels, 
this adds to strengthen the shoe and keep it in place. 
Romea, it was, who could not pace without hobbles, and her 
owner, Mr. Brown, who had a dislike to hobbles, had me ex- 
periment with her and with this kind of shoe she got a 
mark of 2:14, and hasn't worn any hobbles since. Of 
course the change of front shoes had something to do with 
the balancing of her gait, but this light hind shoe, I think, 
was the main part. She was one of those that barely touch 
the ground, or it looked like that when at speed, and this 
3^ ounce shoe for a rather large foot would last her three 



77 



weeks. Any unnecessary weight made her rough gaited, 
and sh would cross-fire. It is often said, when someone 
wants a horse to pace, put on a set of pacing shoes, I will 
have to ask what are a set of pacing shoes? 




No. 14 



This is a good shoe to prevent cross-firing, for a 
horse that is toeing out, you can see how it is made for the 
right foot. Put it on the right horse, that makes it right, 
all right. The way I have had a good success with the toe- 
ing out cross-firing horse, make the distance of barring 
from front of inside heel calk to inside point of toe calk 
same as the distance from outside point of outside heel to 
lower point of toe calk. It brings the bearing in a more 
direct line with the bodv. 



78 




A good hind shoe for a hue trotter, the toe having a 
wide bearing surface. This shoe will not collect any dirt 
and always gives a horse sure footing, as that kind of a toe 
is always like a grab, always clean. 




A three link shoe forged out of a solid bar, i inch and 



^ by ^ of an inch. There is no weld in it and no other 
one in the world like it. It is nice to have something that 
nobody else has, at the same time you can test your will 
power and your patience. If you have all other necessary 
qualities. 




No. 17 

The way I make such a shoe, I take a couple of pieces 
out of the scrap pile, a piece of ^ half round or a piece 
of five-sixteenths by three-fourths for the outside of the 
shoe, and a piece of j^ inch square for the inside; weld 
them together and form the toe, there is generally heat 
enough left, so I can stamp the two toe nail holes. I then 
heat the inside forge the square part to a bevel, leave the 
inside of that J/^ inch stock full thickness at the inner web, 
and punch a couple of more holes in it. The outside 1 
leave that part of stock as it it, punch the holes and fit the 
shoe to the foot, and that is all there is to it. 



80 



speaking of interfering and the guarantee to stop it, 
let us reason together. Supposing you were a furniture 
dealer, and supposing you were to adjust a chair to carry 
weight on all four legs at the same time. You would fit 
the chair to a level platform. When the furniture man has 
done that, that is the end of it. When that chair is sold and 
delivered, and the floor is not level, the chair will rock and 
only carry weight on two or three legs, so the furniture man 
can only guarantee a chair to carry weight on all four legs 
at the same time on a level floor. Horseshoers can only hope 
to stop horses from interfering when the footing becomes 
firm and level. Aside from that, a horse must be in good 
condition, he must not be driven until he gets tired and leg- 
weary. If these conditions are not favorable, there is no 
shoe of any description that will prevent interfering, and 
the horseshoer's guarantee is without foundation. 

Always use a shoe as light as you can, but satisfactory 
for wear; and always try and find the cause of any irregu- 
larities and don't get the habit of guaranteeing or money 
refunded. If we are doing these things, let as stop it. 




81 



A FEW ^^^(3RDS TO STOP INHUMAN CRIMES 
AGAINST HORSES 

It seems there must always be some fighters for the 
horse's right, but coaxing and pleading amounts to noth- 
ing, something got to drop, force is needed. I have said, 
if there is a Humane Society, I think they are neglecting 
their duties. All the humane educations, organizations, 
academic tracts and scientific facts amounts to nothing. 
It seems an iron hand must come to rule. Horses are not 
shod right, because the law don't care who shoes them. 
They are not fed right ; they are not harnessed right ; they 
are not stabled right ; they are neglected and abused, and 
again the law pays no attention. And here is how a horse 
may be fed, and when he should have water, and not have it. 
To start with, the horse should be fed according to the sea- 
son of the year. For instance, in the summer, during the 
hot days, horses should have oats for their grain, and steam- 
ed bran mash twice a week. These mashes may be given 
to them Wednesday and Saturday. The bran should be 
flavored with a little salt. To prepare the bran-mash, take 
three or four quarts, put it in a bucket, sprinkle salt over it ; 
then take boiling water, pour it over the dry bran until 
it is well moistened ; then take some gunny-sacks to use for 
a cover. This should be done at noon, and then it will be 
ready to feed at night. And have some good hay for the 
horse to finish with. 

In the winter, rolled barley may be fed, and oat hay 
will make a fair combination ; and once in a while a few 
ears of corn. The corn to a certain extent prevents Lampas, 
which is generally caused by a rapid development of the 
teeth. Lampas is not a disease ; it is the over quantity of 
blood that gathers at the bars, and often gives trouble to 
the horse when feeding. It should be attended to by a 
veterinary, for a good mouth and teeth add to the health of 

82 



the horse. Horses' teeth should be looked after a least once 
a year. 

Now, as to watering horses. Always water them be- 
fore you feed, and if you give them all the water they want 
to drink right after feeding, the stomach has not had time 
to digest the food and part of it will be washed away. If 
a horse comes from a drive, is hot and sweating, he should 
be allowed a half a dozen swallows. Then put on a light 
woolen blanket, and let him eat hay. In a half hour, he 
can have some more water, and is then ready for his grain. 
Too much cold water after a hard drive can be the cause 
of founder, and it may cause colic. Never stable a hot 
horse where there is a draft, and then blame the horseshoer, 
claiming that your horse, "is all stiffened up from yester- 
day's shoeing." 

Although it is true at times, horses' feet are often 
crowded, being made too small. In such cases the horse 
walks kind of careful, and in fact, don't like to go. It is 
always best to leave the feet full size, and fit the shoe to 
it. Even if a horse stumbles, don't crowd the foot, that 
may make him fall. It is to be regretted, but we have to 
admit, the sun of ignorance and incompentency in the 
horseshoeing trade seems to be setting. Let us pray that it 
may never rise, but that horseshoers will develop a hunger 
and thirst for the truth as it is read through scientific re- 
search, and then great good will have been accomplished. 

THE END 



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